Startup developing ultracompact PET imaging scanner raises $8.5M
Positrigo, a Swiss startup developing a compact PET imaging scanner targeted toward Alzheimer’s patients, has raised $8.5 million (USD) in new funding, leaders announced Tuesday.
European venture capital firms HealthCap and Navivo led the “oversubscribed” investment round, alongside other previous contributors. Founded in 2018, Positrigo scored U.S. Food and Drug Administration clearance last year for its NeuroLF brain PET system.
The product is ultracompact and incorporated into a dental-style clinical chair, allowing providers to perform the same brain scanning functions as traditional PET scanners in hospitals. Positrigo said it will use the funds to accelerate its commercial efforts in both the U.S. and Europe.
“I am deeply impressed by what Positrigo accomplished already in a relatively short period of time and with limited resources,” Max Odlander, a partner at HealthCap who also will join the startup’s board of directors, said in a June 10 announcement. “Beside the highly committed team, we believe that their imaging solution and the latest developments in the treatment of [Alzheimer’s disease] patients offers an exciting business opportunity.”
Along with AD, the NeuroLF also is targeted toward other brain disorders such as tumors, epilepsy and Parkinson’s. Positrigo CEO Jannis Fischer said the company sees the “strongest demand” in Alzheimer’s, with cases in the U.S. projected to nearly double by 2050, up to 13 million.
“This investment allows us to capture this market opportunity by making brain PET imaging much more widely accessible than it is today,” Fischer said.
Last month, Vancouver-based Algernon Pharmaceuticals Inc. announced plans to open a chain of Alzheimer’s imaging centers utilizing the NeuroLF.
Marty Stempniak has covered healthcare since 2012, with his byline appearing in the American Hospital Association's member magazine, Modern Healthcare and McKnight's. Prior to that, he wrote about village government and local business for his hometown newspaper in Oak Park, Illinois. He won a Peter Lisagor and Gold EXCEL awards in 2017 for his coverage of the opioid epidemic.