Alpha Tau Medical, the developer of breakthrough alpha-radiation cancer therapy Alpha DaRT, finished in June the closing of a Series B equity financing of $26 million. The Series A Equity financing for $ 29 million took place in September 2018. Investors in the round included a mix of existing investors from previous rounds, such as Shavit Capital, Medison Ventures, and OurCrowd, as well as a few new private and family office investors primarily from Israel and North America.
Alpha Tau also moved to their new production facility and new company headquarters in Jerusalem, in the Har Hotzvim hi-tech industrial park. Alpha Tau is establishing also new global manufacturing facilities in Lawrence, Massachusetts, and is in the middle of a process for CE marking for its first indication. These activities and others will be supported by the proceeds of this financing.
Alpha Tau Medical has also just signed a distribution agreement with Medison Canada, which will allow the company to enter the important Canadian market, once Alpha DaRT receives regulatory approval.
During the last year, Alpha Tau successfully completed its first-in-human clinical trial of Alpha DaRT with squamous cell carcinoma patients from Italy and Israel. The impressive results from this study, published in the prestigious International Journal of Radiation Oncology, Biology, Physics (known as the “Red Journal”) were subsequently applauded in this recent editorial in the same journal.
Despite the Coronavirus pandemic, and the near-complete shutdown here in Israel, Alpha Tau has been operating at full speed. Its staff was split into organic teams, to minimize the risk of infection, while continuously developing the Alpha DaRT and maintaining its supply.
During the last few months, Alpha Tau was able to treat several new patients in Israel and around the world. Alpha Tau managed to successfully carry out a number of radioactive deliveries to Japan, both for patients as well as for preclinical study, even as passenger flights continued to dwindle. And thanks to swift efforts by their clinical research and training departments, Alpha Tau completed virtual training for a new clinical trial site in Japan, at Tohoku University, which has already treated its first patient.
Alpha Tau is now conducting clinical trials in multiple clinical indications across the world, including its first US trial at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York, a pancreatic cancer trial at CHUM in Montreal, and trials at three academic institutions in Japan. The clinical trials are being carried in skin cancer, oral cavity cancer and breast cancer.
CEO Uzi Sofer commented, “We are humbled by the groundswell of continued support we’ve seen from both existing and new investors. This will enable us to push forward our mission to help cancer patients across the world, even during these challenging times in which COVID-19 is the focus of everyone’s health concerns.”
CFO Raphi Levy added, “We have been very fortunate to continue our progress at full speed across all fronts, including R&D, clinical and operations, and now financing as well, even during a period of global turmoil. As concerns associated with systemic cancer therapies that affect the immune system have become more salient, we see strong interest in our trials from clinicians, patients, and investors who recognize the advantages of a focused and highly potent cancer therapy.”
About AlphaDaRT™
Alpha DaRT™ (Diffusing Alpha-emitters Radiation Therapy) enables highly potent and conformal alpha-irradiation of solid tumors. The treatment is delivered by insertion of radium-224 impregnated seeds inside the tumors. When the radium decays, it emits high-energy alpha particles that destroy the tumor. Since the alpha-emitting atoms diffuse only a short distance, Alpha DaRT mainly affects the tumor, sparing the healthy tissue around it.
About Alpha Tau Medical, Ltd.
Founded in 2016, Alpha Tau Medical Ltd, is a privately owned Israeli medical device company that focuses on research, development, and commercialization of the Alpha DaRT for treatment of solid tumors. The technology was initially developed by Prof. Itzhak Kelson and Prof. Yona Keisari from Tel Aviv University and the IP is licensed from Ramot. Since then, preclinical, and clinical trials have found the technology to be effective and safe for various indications and anatomic areas. The findings were published in 16 papers in peer-reviewed scientific journals. Today, the company is running its first clinical trials with very promising preliminary results.
Contact:
Amnon Gat Tel: +1 833-455-3278 amnong at alphatau.com
SOURCE: Cision PRwire
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