05 12 08  |  ST. LOUIS

Veran Medical Technologies Secures $4.75M in First Institutional Funding

Company poised to impact lung cancer care

Veran Medical Technologies, Inc., a medical device start-up company, has secured $4.75M of venture capital and private financing to drive adoption of its IG4 delivery system for minimally invasive biopsy and ablation of cancer. St. Louis-based Prolog Ventures led the round and was joined by Advantage Capital Partners and existing private investors. Veran also relocated its headquarters from Nashville to St. Louis in order to build relationships with the local medical community.

“We are pleased to have secured the backing of Prolog Ventures and Advantage Capital Partners who have experience in the development of medical device companies,” said Jerome R. Edwards, president of Veran. “The Veran team has a wealth of experience and a successful track record of developing delivery products. We feel empowered by the significant impact that IG4 could have on patient care and society.”

The greatest hurdle in cancer treatment is safe, efficient, and economical early detection. When diagnosed at Stage 1, lung cancer survival rates approach 90%. If diagnosed beyond Stage 1, lung cancer survival rates fall to below 15%. Cancer screening will only increase the already overwhelming demand for biopsies needed for complete diagnosis. Incidental screening is occurring at a high rate due to the 7 million chest CT scans performed annually in the United States as patients are examined for other co-morbidities. This is leading to detection of potential cancer much earlier in the disease cycle. Tools are needed to encourage early treatment through safe, efficient biopsies and resection or ablation.

The Veran IG4 system and instruments enable accurate, efficient targeting of very small lesions. The system aims to give clinicians the confidence to treat patients earlier in the disease cycle without subjecting patients to unnecessary complication risk. The system also aims to deliver throughput efficiency that hospitals can capitalize on. Finally, the IG products hope to move cancer treatment earlier in the disease cycle, which is far more economical and beneficial than expensive later stage surgeries and medicines.

“We are very pleased about our investment in Veran, which allows the company to execute and drive adoption of its products,” said Greg Johnson, managing director at Prolog Ventures. “There is no doubt that early detection and treatment is the key to cancer care. Veran’s products intend to fill a very critical need in medicine today. We believe that Veran’s products will be instrumental in improving the efficacy of therapies for certain diseases such as lung cancer. ”

“We believe the value of Veran’s product line is unique because it provides benefits for patients, physicians, hospitals, and ultimately taxpayers,” said Jeremy R. Degenhart, senior vice president at Advantage Capital Partners.

About Veran Medical Technologies

Veran is a privately held image-guided medical device company focused on developing the next standard of care for minimally invasive delivery of interventional oncology therapies. Veran provides proprietary 4D registration capability for precise targeting of lesions via its FDA cleared platform. The Veran platform aims to reduce procedure times and increase accuracy, enabling clinicians to cost effectively treat patients with reduced co-morbidity risk. Veran Medical Technologies relocated from Nashville, Tennessee to St. Louis, Missouri.

To learn more about Veran, please visitwww.veranmedical.com.

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