Halifax-based ABK Biomedical has raised $35 million USD ($49.1 million CAD) in Series D funding to commercialize its liver cancer treatment.
The round was led by investment bank J.P. Morgan through its Life Sciences Private Capital arm, with participation from returning healthtech investors including F-Prime Capital, Santé Ventures, Eight Roads Ventures, as well as a “significant undisclosed medical device company.” With its first investment in the company, J.P. Morgan Life Sciences Private Capital will gain a seat on ABK’s board of directors.
The Eye90 microspheres have been undergoing clinical trials since 2021 and were recently approved for a second clinical trial.
The Series D funding supports ABK’s ongoing clinical operations, furthers its product innovation and development, and prepares it for the commercialization of its proprietary Eye90 microspheres, which are “x-ray visible” small particles that help with diagnostic imaging.
ABK was founded at Dalhousie University in 2012 by material scientists Dr. Daniel Boyd and Dr. Sharon Kehoe as well as radiologist Dr. Robert Abraham. The founders engineered and patented their microsphere technology.
In 2018, ABK redesigned its microspheres with a focus on Y90 radioembolization, a minimally invasive procedure that combines embolization (stopping blood flow to a specific blood vessel) and radiation therapy to treat liver cancer. The Eye90 microspheres, as they came to be known, have been undergoing clinical trials since 2021 and were recently approved for a second clinical trial to evaluate their effectiveness in 120 patients with liver cancer. ABK claims the Eye90 microspheres are the first and only imageable Y90 microspheres device.
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“We’re looking forward to our Route90 study demonstrating the breakthrough promise of Eye90 microspheres, offering better care for patients with liver cancer,” ABK Biomedical president and CEO Mike Mangano said in a statement.
Eye90 earned Breakthrough Device Designation from the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 2023. The designation is granted to devices that may provide a more effective treatment or diagnosis of life-threatening or debilitating conditions for which no approved alternative exists.
ABK last raised a $30 million USD Series C round in 2022 to support Eye90’s research and development, which brought its total funding to around $90 million CAD, according to Entrevestor. Including its Series D funding, ABK has now raised more than $140 million CAD. ABK said any additional Series D funds will be used to increase the scale and scope of its manufacturing and supply chain operations to support Eye90’s commercialization “well into the future.”
Feature image courtesy ABK Biomedical.