London. 10 January 2014. Norgine Ventures today announced that it has provided financing of €5 million to SuperSonic Imagine SA. The financing was realised in form of private bonds with warrants.
Norgine Ventures’ investment will enable SuperSonic Imagine to accelerate further technological development and commercial expansion in the US and in Asia. Norgine Ventures is a business entity of Norgine, an independent pan-European specialty pharmaceutical company.
SuperSonic Imagine designs and commercialises the Aixplorer®, an innovative ultrasound system that utilises patented ShearWave™ Elastography technology to image and measure tissue stiffness in real time. Tissue stiffness is an important parameter in the determination of malignancies. The Aixplorer® is the only ultrasound system in the world to offer, not only, B-mode and Doppler imaging but also, innovations such as ShearWave™ Elastography and UltraFast™ Doppler (a unique tool that combines Color Doppler and Pulsed Wave Doppler to increase exam time and patient throughput). Aixplorer® covers all diagnostic, clinical applications such as: breast, thyroid, abdomen, liver, musculo-skeletal, prostate, gynaecology and obstetrics.
SuperSonic Imagine was founded in 2005 in Aix-en-Provence. Since inception, the company secured a number of government research grants and raised four financing rounds from private investors, including Edmond de Rothschild Investment Partners (EdRIP), Auriga Partners, Omnes Capital, NBGI Ventures, Bioam, Mérieux Développement, Wellington Partners, Innobio, IXO Private Equity, IRDI Midi-Pyrénées, Alto Invest, Kuwait Life Sciences Company, Canon and BPIFrance (Banque Publique d'Investissement).
Today, SuperSonic Imagine has a direct sales team in four countries and a distribution network in over 50 countries worldwide, and holds the exclusive rights, titles and interests to 30 international patents and submissions in diagnostic imaging and therapy applications.
Peter Stein, Norgine Ventures CEO, said: “Norgine Ventures’ investment in SuperSonic Imagine demonstrates our commitment to grow valuable assets that can drive innovation and improve healthcare outcomes”. He added: “SuperSonic Imagine’s technology can revolutionise the diagnosis of cancer and provide economic value to healthcare systems, enabling provision of the right treatment, to the right patient, at the right time.”
Jacques Souquet, SSI CEO, said : “We are thankful for the collaboration with Norgine Ventures as it will enable us to increase both our commercial footprint and pursue other clinical innovations leveraging the breakthrough technology we have developed. Our contribution to the field of imaging has already had an impact in domains like breast cancer and prostate. We believe that with the market launch of a new generation of hepatitis C drugs, Aixplorer® can also make a difference to clinicians and patients in this therapeutic area, by improving assessment of the benefit of the drug and avoiding unnecessary biopsies.”
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Notes to Editors
For further information please contact
Julien Michaux, Norgine Ventures, +44 (0)1895826600, jmichaux@norgine.com
Media
Isabelle Jouin, Norgine Corporate Communications, +44 (0)1895453643, ijouin@norgine.com
Rachelle Michaels, Norgine Corporate Communications, +44 (0)1895453607, rmichaels@norgine.com
About Norgine and Norgine Ventures
Norgine is a leading independent European specialty pharmaceutical company that has been established for over 100 years and has a presence in all major European markets. In 2013, Norgine’s net product sales were c.€267 million and the company employs over 1,000 people. Norgine’s focus is the development and marketing of pharmaceutical products that address significant unmet clinical needs in therapeutic areas such as gastroenterology, hepatology, critical and supportive care. Norgine owns a manufacturing and development site in Hengoed, UK and a manufacturing site in Dreux, France. For more information: www.norgine.com
Norgine Ventures was started in 2012 to diversify Norgine’s activities and to foster innovation in the healthcare sector. Norgine Ventures provides debt and debt-like financing to innovative, fast growing companies in the fields of healthcare and life sciences, in Europe and the US. For more information: www.norgineventures.com
NORGINE and the sail logo are trademarks of the Norgine group of companies.
About SuperSonic Imagine SA
Founded in 2005 and based in Aix-en-Provence, France, SuperSonic Imagine is an innovative, multinational medical imaging company dedicated to developing a revolutionary ultrasound system: the Aixplorer®. This system leverages a unique technology that enables the user to detect, characterize and, in the future, treat palpable and non-palpable masses. Learn more at www.supersonicimagine.com