In an important milestone for Insightec and the future of incisionless neurosurgery, the medical technology company dedicated to using acoustic energy to transform patient care signed a credit facility for up to $200 million with affiliates of existing shareholders Perceptive Advisors and Community Fund.
The company, based in Miami and Israel, plans to use the funds — $100 million of which is available immediately — to drive adoption of incisionless neurosurgery to treat patients with Essential Tremor and Parkinson’s Disease, while continuing to advance innovation and clinical trials for expanded applications of its technology in neuro-oncology and other neurological conditions, said CEO and Chairman Maurice R. Ferré in the announcement.
“We are focused on supporting and growing our world-class customer base of medical centers across the Americas, Europe, and Asia,” said Ferré.
Insightec leverages the Exablate Neuro platform to provide sound waves, guided by MRI, to provide tremor treatment to patients with medication-refractory Essential Tremor and Parkinson’s Disease. Research for future applications in the neuroscience space is underway in partnership with leading academic and medical institutions.
The financing provided Insightec with $100 million at closing, with an additional $100 million of financing potentially available in tranches through 2024. The credit facility is interest-only for five years and matures on August 31, 2027.
“With a global installed base of 120 systems, FDA approvals for Essential Tremor, Parkinson’s Disease and Prostate, and a pipeline of future potential indications, we are excited about Insightec’s ability to offer care to many patients suffering from diseases with only limited or invasive alternative therapies,” said Sam Chawla, Portfolio Manager of Perceptive Advisors, in a statement.
Prior to this latest credit facility, Insightec, which also has offices in Dallas, Shanghai and Tokyo, raised about $633 million in investor funding, according to Crunchbase, including a $150 million Series F led by Koch Disruptive Technologies in 2020. Last year, Insightec earned Medicare coverage in all 50 states for its focused ultrasound technology used to treat Essential Tremor.
Ferré, became Insightec CEO in 2016 and guided the company toward its current focus on neurology. Inightec’s commercialization success also further bolsters Miami’s growing medical devices, life sciences and heath-tech sector. Ferré has always run the company from Miami.
Ferré, an MD, has a long history in healthcare innovation. He is also chairman of fast-growing surgical robotics firm Momentis Surgical, formerly Memic, which is also based in South Florida and Israel. With Rony Abovitz, Ferré co-founded MAKO Surgical, a transformational robotic surgical company, in 2004, and it sold to Stryker Corp. for $1.65 billion in 2013. In addition to Magic Leap, MAKO alums helped start up Orthosensor, DermaSensor and Neocis. Before MAKO, Ferré headed Visualization Technology Inc. (VTI) in Boston, which became the world leader in image guided surgery for ENT, cranial and orthopedic procedures and was acquired by GE Healthcare in 2002. Today, Ferré also serves on the boards of Endeavor Miami and the Everglades Foundation.
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