GT Medical Technologies, Inc., a company dedicated to improving the lives of patients with brain tumors, today announced it has raised $16 million in a Series B financing led by MVM Partners with participation from existing investors MedTech Venture Partners and BlueStone Venture Partners. Funds from the round will support the expanded commercialization of GammaTile® Therapy, an FDA-cleared, Surgically Targeted Radiation Therapy (STaRT) for patients with brain tumors.
“Since the FDA clearance of GammaTile Therapy in July 2018 for recurrent brain tumors and our expanded indication including newly-diagnosed malignant brain tumors early this year, many of the country’s leading centers for brain tumor treatment have adopted GammaTile Therapy. Physicians are pleased to finally have a new option for patients with brain tumors after decades of seeking better treatments,” said Matthew Likens, President and CEO of GT Medical Technologies. “We are excited that this funding will support our efforts to further expand access to STaRT, allowing even more patients to benefit from this targeted treatment.”
Over 700,000 Americans are living with some type of brain tumor today. Despite the efforts of the most skilled specialists throughout the world, outcomes for patients with brain tumors have improved very little over the past 30 years. GammaTile Therapy is the latest FDA-cleared treatment for newly diagnosed malignant and recurrent brain tumors, and the company recently announced data showing promising clinical outcomes for patients diagnosed with high-grade gliomas, brain metastases, and aggressive meningiomas.
GammaTile Therapy first received FDA 510(k) regulatory clearance for the treatment of all types of recurrent brain tumors in July 2018. Earlier this year, GT Medical Technologies received FDA clearance to further expand the indication to allow patients with newly diagnosed malignant brain tumors to receive the therapy.
“Despite advances in care and improvements in outcomes for many other forms of cancer, brain cancer treatment options and outcomes have remained tragically static, with only one-third of patients living beyond five years. GammaTile Therapy provides patients and their clinicians with a needed new treatment modality,” said Dr. Kyle Dempsey, Partner at MVM Partners. “Consistent with our investment goals, GammaTile Therapy has the potential to improve outcomes, decrease total healthcare costs, and improve patient satisfaction relative to the current standard of care. We are thrilled to partner with the business and to help ensure more patients and clinicians have access to this innovative technology.”
GammaTiles are placed directly at the site of the tumor after surgical excision is complete and immediately targets residual tumor cells before they can replicate and cause tumor recurrence. Designed to protect healthy brain tissue and facilitate rapid, accurate placement during the procedure, the therapy features a bioresorbable, conformable, 3D-collagen tile that emits a sustained and controlled radiation dose.
The company recently announced that the first patient has been enrolled into its registry trial, which will further validate the safety and efficacy of GammaTile Therapy in patients with metastatic brain tumors, gliomas, and meningiomas from up to 50 treatment centers across the United States. Data from the study will be used to benchmark clinical outcomes for GammaTile Therapy and allow for comparisons to existing standard-of-care treatments for patients with brain tumors. In addition to the registry trial, two additional studies evaluating GammaTile Therapy in patients with brain metastases were announced at the 2020 Society of Neuro-Oncology Virtual Meeting on Brain Metastases in August. Those studies, which are led by The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center and Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, are expected to begin enrollment in Q4 2020.
About GT Medical Technologies, Inc.
Driven to overcome the limitations of the current standard of care for brain tumors, a team of brain tumor specialists joined forces and formed GT Medical Technologies with the purpose of improving the lives of patients with brain tumors. GammaTile Therapy received FDA 510(k) regulatory clearance for the treatment of all types of recurrent and newly diagnosed malignant brain tumors. Patients receive GammaTile at the time of their tumor removal surgery which, in contrast to traditional radiation therapy, requires no additional trips to the hospital or clinic for radiation therapy. GammaTile is available in top brain tumor centers across the United States.