51.5 F
Laguna Hills
Thursday, Mar 28, 2024
-Advertisement-

Venture-Backed SenoRx Targets Breast Cancer

Venture-Backed SenoRx Targets Breast Cancer

Probing the Market

By VITA REED

Count SenoRx Inc., an Aliso Viejo-based medical device maker, among Orange County’s biomedical hopefuls.

The 3-year-old company has raised $31 million in financing,nearly all from venture capitalists,and has developed 10 devices so far.

SenoRx makes disposable, minimally invasive devices for diagnosing and treating breast cancer.

The company completed a $19 million third round of funding last year. MPM Capital, a venture firm with offices in South San Francisco, Germany and Cambridge, Mass., led the round.

“We really do think there are better ways to address breast cancer,” said Kurt Wheeler, a MPM general partner and SenoRx director. SenoRx’s products, according to Wheeler, should lead to “better diagnosis and less-disfiguring surgery.”

MPM is looking at SenoRx as a long-term investment, Wheeler said. He noted that MPM often invests in companies at an early stage and stays with them at least three to five years.

Other SenoRx in-vestors include: Domain Associates, which has an office in Laguna Niguel; CIT Ventures, part of Tyco International Ltd.; and the Mayfield Fund of Menlo Park. Domain and Mayfield were return investors in the latest round.

SenoRx employs about 50 people, including 39 in Aliso Viejo. Five of the company’s products have Food and Drug Administration approval and three are being commercialized.

The company’s chief executive, Lloyd Malchow, declined to offer specifics on SenoRx’s finances. The company has “a modest amount of revenue” but does not expect to be profitable within the next couple of years, he said.

“We just began direct sales and marketing in the U.S.,” Malchow said.

SenoRx plans to sell devices in global markets during this year’s first quarter, Malchow said. The company has en-ough funding for now, he said.

In terms of SenoRx’s possible public future, Malchow said: “If the public markets are attractive, we would consider an IPO.”

SenoRx does some of its own production and also contracts out work, depending on the device, Malchow said.

The company’s devices include the Gel Mark, a biopsy site marking system. SenoRx’s Anchor Guide allows breast surgeons to minimize tissue loss during biopsies. And the company’s Easy Guide is intended to help make breast biopsies more efficient.

“This is a large market,” Malchow said. “It is obvious that with a reasonable amount of diligence, (breast cancer survival rates) can be dramatically improved.”

The market for breast biopsy devices could exceed $1 billion annually, Malchow said.

“Worldwide, it’s likely to continue growing (at a rate of) 5% to 7% a year,” he said.

SenoRx is targeting a competitive field. Johnson & Johnson and Tyco’s United States Surgical Corp. offer devices to diagnose and treat breast cancer, as does smaller Irvine-based Imagyn Medical Technologies Inc. In 1997, Johnson & Johnson acquired Biopsys Medical Inc. of Irvine for around $300 million. The company now is part of J & J;’s Ethicon Endo-Surgery Inc. business unit and operates out of Ohio.

Want more from the best local business newspaper in the country?

Sign-up for our FREE Daily eNews update to get the latest Orange County news delivered right to your inbox!

-Advertisement-

Featured Articles

-Advertisement-
-Advertisement-
-Advertisement-
-Advertisement-

Related Articles

-Advertisement-
-Advertisement-