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03 Aug 2022
German firm has developed a novel microscopy tool for use during cancer surgery.
PreciPoint, a company headquartered in southern Germany that has developed a digital microscopy and pathology platform for intra-operative use in cancer surgery, has attracted €10 million in series A financing.
The funding round, led by bm‑t beteiligungsmanagement thüringen (bmt), will help support the company as it works on the commercial launch of its “iO:M8 ROSE” product, described as a “unique solution” for digital intra-operative microscopic assessment.
“These examinations, during which pathologists determine whether sufficient material has been removed from the patient’s body and whether the margins are free of cancer cells, are traditionally performed by specialists being bound to location and time using classic light microscopes for imaging,” says the firm.
“PreciPoint’s solutions enable entirely new ways of working, allowing significant cost savings and, most importantly, better patient care.”
Critically, the approach would give surgeons instantaneous information, while the “gold standard” method of collecting a sample and sending it to a pathology laboratory typically takes several hours and sometimes days.
“PreciPoint is changing the future of the pathology lab,” claims the firm on its web site. “We develop products that combine first-class optics with compact and high-precision hardware design as well as easy-to-use and powerful software to meet real needs.”
No eyepiece required
With its roots in traditional microscopy, PreciPoint was formed from the reorganization of its parent company in 2018, establishing locations in Bavaria and Thuringia. It received seed investment from bmt in 2019.
Key personnel include co-CEOs Dominik Gerber and Nicolas Weiss, alongside CTO Ludwig Wildner and chief commercial officer Birgit Müller.
Thanks to its heritage, the company already offers products including an oil microscope called “O8”, and a microscopy slide scanner known as “FRITZ”.
But certification of the first medical product to be developed in-house, the iO:M8 ROSE, is expected later this year, with a US market launch anticipated. The digital microscope is said to be suitable for in vitro intra-operative examination of human tissue samples.
“The [iO:M8 ROSE] microscope can be used specifically for intra-operative consultations,” says the company. “It enables simple and fast collaborative work among medical professionals and facilitates obtaining a second opinion.
“We achieve all this because we work together as a team to make surgical and clinical pathology more effective and efficient.”
According to the firm all of its products rely on fully motorized transmitted light microscopes that users are able to control via software.
“The solutions work digitally, do not require an eyepiece, and produce high-resolution images of the samples, which can easily be stored digitally,” PreciPoint explains, adding that they can be equipped with a remote function to be accessed from any location.
Aside from the hardware, the company offers software applications to visualize, process, and analyze images, as well as its “PreciCloud” virtual microscopy platform.
Stefan Jahn, senior investment manager at investor bmt, commented: “Since our seed investment in 2019, the team around the two co-founders and managing directors Nicolas Weiss and Dominik Gerber has made enormous progress.
“We firmly believe that PreciPoint, as a ISO13485 certified medical device company, will be able to successfully position its product portfolio on the European and American markets.”
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