ROCKY HILL, Conn. (PRWEB) April 08, 2021
Lumeda Inc., a medical technology company advancing Photodynamic Therapy (PDT) as an intraoperative adjuvant treatment for patients during lung cancer surgery, today announced the closing of its Series A financing. The round was led by Connecticut Innovations, with participation from Cycle Venture Partners and brings the total amount raised to date to $5.3M. Both firms, along with angel investors, participated in the company’s Seed funding round in early 2020. The new capital will be used to further develop Lumeda’s breakthrough PDT system, which leverages artificial intelligence (AI) and proprietary software and hardware to enable controlled light dosimetry. Lumeda expects first-in-human clinical studies to commence in mid-2021.
“This new funding from our current investors shows their confidence in the Lumeda team and the opportunity to improve outcomes for lung cancer patients,” said Lumeda CEO, Sandy Zinke. “We are excited to begin clinical testing of the DigiLum™ system and plan to expand testing to other sites in the US, Europe, and Japan.”
Lumeda is advancing a medical device innovation, demonstrated by Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center (“Roswell Park”), for applying PDT to treat Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC) and other lung malignancies. PDT is a two-stage cancer treatment that involves a photosensitizer drug that preferentially collects within cancer cells and then produces cell death upon light activation. PDT has been shown to significantly improve patient progression-free and overall survival when applied intraoperatively following lung cancer tumor surgical resection. Adoption of PDT to treat lung cancer has been limited due to its manual and time-consuming method of administration. With Lumeda’s new DigiLum™ system, thoracic surgeons will be able to use PDT in a shorter, simplified, intraoperative procedure with controlled light delivery and detailed data collection. Two clinical studies to evaluate safety and effectiveness are planned to begin at Roswell Park in 2021.
“Pleural malignancies of thoracic origin are difficult to treat and have a significant risk of recurrence,” said Dr. Sai Yendamuri, Chair of the Department of Thoracic Surgery at Roswell Park and Principal Investigator of the studies. “We are excited to evaluate Lumeda’s new light dosimetry system for intraoperative PDT as a possible adjuvant tool to treat patients with lung cancer, which has the highest global incidence and death rate of all cancers.”
About Lumeda:
Lumeda is a medical technology company advancing PDT to treat NSCLC and other thoracic malignancies. The company applies advanced photonics and proprietary artificial intelligence (AI) software to automate and digitize PDT light delivery to improve physician control, reduce procedure time and enable data capture for treatment planning. The multidisciplinary Lumeda team has decades of experience in the photonics industry, with expertise in systems engineering and commercialization of new technology. Lumeda is committed to pioneering the advancement and utility of PDT for improved patient outcomes. For more information, please visit lumedainc.com.
About Connecticut Innovations:
Connecticut Innovations (CI) is Connecticut’s strategic venture capital arm and the leading source of financing and ongoing support for Connecticut’s innovative, growing companies. CI provides venture capital and strategic support for early-stage technology companies, financial support for innovation and collaboration, and connections to its well-established network of partners and professionals.
About Cycle Ventures:
Cycle Venture Partners (CVP) is a Connecticut-based venture group focused on partnering with management teams to found companies based on proven technologies that can impact peoples’ lives. CVP delivers the early stage growth capital so that management teams can focus on developing and implementing their strategies to drive growth and create value.