DURHAM – CranioVation Inc., which has developed an innovative way to treat brain tumors using light delivered via a minimally invasive device, has raised nearly $65o,000 in equity, according to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Previously the Durham-based company raised $375,000 in debt offerings.
CranioVation uses photodynamic therapy, which utilizes light to kill cancer cells exposed to a photosensitizer, a safe and natural compound approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The patient drinks the photosensitizer, which accumulates in tumor cells. When the tumor cells are exposed to light in a specific wavelength, they undergo cell death while leaving healthy brain cells intact.
Photodynamic therapy is also FDA approved and has been used for various tumors and diseases fo the lung, esophagus and skin, but not the brain. CranioVation says it has invented a device that is able to treat even tumors deep in the brain without complex, dangerous, and often disfiguring surgery.
The treatment takes only minutes while the patient is awake and comfortable, the company says.
An estimated 688,000 people in the U.S. have a primary brain or central nervous system tumor diagnosis. Many other cancers, from 20 percent to 49 percent develop a brain metastasis.
Five investors contributed to the equity round according to the SEC filing. Executives of the company are both located in Atlanta.
