Olson, Mills invest in new prostate treatment
From the April 9, 2004 print edition
Exclusive Reports
Rick Desloge
Envisioneering Medical Technology is preparing to debut a medical instrument that allows precision treatment of prostate cancer. The audience will be more than 9,000 urologists at a key conference next month.
The TargetScan System, which operates like a video game controller, was conceived three years ago. Its development got off the ground with assistance from two of Envisioneering's key executives -- Bob Mills, president, who has operated other startup medical ventures, and Bruce Olson, chairman, who has a track record of investing in new ventures.
They share another common bond. Both Mills and Olson have fathers with prostate cancer.
"We're taking a much greater interest in this, compared to other investments," said Mills, who joined Envisioneering three years ago. He had left Mallinckrodt and was working as a medical business consultant when a venture fund executive put him in touch with Envisioneering.
"We can make a difference (with this) treatment," said Olson, who is also the majority owner of the company.
Olson placed his initial investment with Envisioneering after Mills joined the business. The two have known each other for more than a decade.
Since then, Olson said, he put up more than half of the $2.1 million in private financing the company raised last year. It is a personal investment for Olson. BBI Group Inc., a private investment firm in Clayton where he is a principal, is not involved. Envisioneering has raised additional capital, but neither Mills nor Olson will say how much.
The urology diagnostic market is a $1 billion-a-year business, according to Medtech Insight, a medical market research company in Newport Beach, Calif. Envisioneering's product will complement equipment from other large companies in the field, and Envisioneering is setting up marketing partnerships with other medical device businesses, Mills said.
The advantage of Envisioneering's TargetScan probe is that it remains in a fixed position, unlike existing technology for the treatment of prostate cancer.
"This is completely novel," said Dr. Gerald Andriole, professor of surgery and chief of urology at Washington University School of Medicine and director of the Urological Research Center at Barnes-Jewish Hospital. Adriole joined Envisioneering's medical advisory board after Mills contacted him to evaluate the device. He also invested in the business.
Fixed positioning allows the device to make a more accurate scan of the prostate gland. With current technology a urologist holds and pivots a probe with one hand and takes a biopsy with the other. Doctors using that technology can miss as much as 20 percent to 30 percent of potential cancers, according to Andriole. As a result, some patients may incorrectly believe they are cancer free, and others face both the added expense and inconvenience of a second biopsy, he said.
"It's frustrating for patients when they have to go through a series of biopsies," said Dr. Burton Needles, medical director of the David C. Pratt Cancer Center at St. John's Mercy Medical Center.
For patients with cancer, TargetScan allows pinpoint treatment of an infected area, Andriole said.
TargetScan also gives prostate cancer patients a greater chance of avoiding common treatment side effects -- incontinence and sexual dysfunction, said Dr. Jeff Michalski, director of radiation-oncology at the Siteman Cancer Center. Michalski is an adviser to Envisioneering but not an investor.
Treatment options for prostate cancer include removing the gland, treating it with external radiation and implanting radioactive seeds to shrink cancer tumors.
"This (Envisioneering) technology, I believe, will allow us to better place the radioactive seeds," Michalski said. "People have been getting by with existing technology, but the outcomes might not be what we want them to be."
Prostate cancer is among the deadliest and is expected to kill 29,900 men this year, according to the American Cancer Society. The organization projects the United States will have 230,110 new cases this year. More than 70 percent of all cases diagnosed are in men over age 65. However, more cases are being detected at earlier ages since the introduction more than a decade ago of the PSA (prostate specific antigen) test, which measures levels of the substance in a man's bloodstream. The higher the PSA level, the greater likelihood cancer is present.
TargetScan awaits approval from the federal Food and Drug Administration. Mills said that could come before Envisioneering launches its device at the May convention of the American Urology Association in San Francisco. Envisioneering already holds one patent on its device and has applied for two others, he said.
Mills said doctors recommend prostate screenings for men over 50, and cancer doctors are recommending prostate probes for patients with PSA levels lower than the current norm, both of which potentially increase the market for TargetScan biopsies. The device also has potential to screen for other diseases, such as cervical cancer, and will work with other ultrasound systems, though Mills said Envisioneering initially will concentrate solely on the prostate market.
Envisioneering has a staff of 11, including Jim Taylor, the company's vice president of technology, who invented TargetScan. The company moved earlier this month from offices in University City to 5,500 square feet at the Innerbelt Industrial Center in Overland.
rdesloge@bizjournals.com
© 2004 American City Business Journals Inc.
All contents of this site © American City Business Journals Inc. All rights reserved.
|
