HOLLAND, Mich., Jan. 13, 2020 PRNewswire — Genesis Innovation Group’s cultivate(MD) Seed Fund, a fund focused on investments into early-stage healthcare companies with innovative technologies, announces its participation in Virtual Incision Corporation’s raise of $20 million in Series B+ financing. Virtual Incision is a medical device company pioneering the first-of-its-kind, miniaturized surgical robot and the funds will support the regulatory and clinical programs leading to the commercialization of the company’s MIRA™ (“miniaturized in vivo robotic assistant”) Surgical Robotic Platform. MIRA is an investigational portable robot that enables surgeons to perform minimally invasive surgeries in any hospital or surgery center, without the space or infrastructure typically required for other mainframe robotic systems.
Weighing only two pounds, the miniature handheld platform has full robotic capabilities, and can easily be moved from room to room. Unlike today’s large, mainframe-like robots that reach into the body from outside the patient, Virtual Incision’s investigational MIRA Surgical Robotic Platform features a small, self-contained surgical device that is inserted through a single midline umbilical incision in the patient’s abdomen.
Virtual Incision’s technology is designed to enable complex multi-quadrant abdominal surgeries utilizing existing tools and techniques familiar to surgeons, and does not require a dedicated operating room or specialized infrastructure. Because of its much smaller size, the robot is expected to be significantly less expensive than existing robotic alternatives for laparoscopic surgery.
Virtual Incision recently announced its filing for an Investigational Device Exemption (IDE) with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Upon approval, the IDE will initiate a confirmatory clinical study of the MIRA Surgical Robotic Platform in support of a planned De Novo application. The study will evaluate the safety and efficacy of the MIRA platform for colon resection surgeries in patients at three separate U.S. sites. Colorectal and lower gastrointestinal procedures are among the fastest growing surgeries in the U.S., with more than 400,000 colon resection procedures performed each year.
“Demand for minimally invasive surgeries continues to increase, and we are enthusiastic about the promise of the MIRA platform to meet this demand, while also delivering unparalleled flexibility,” said Dr. Dmitry Oleynikov, Virtual Incision’s co-founder and chief medical officer. “We are focused on expanding access to minimally invasive robotic procedures and delivering this innovation to the many centers where a smaller, simpler and less costly solution is needed.”
David Blue, cultivate(MD) Seed Fund, Managing Director & VP Sales and Marketing said, “cultivate(MD) is always seeking technologies with the potential to be disruptive in their segment of medical devices. We believe Virtual Incision’s focus on increasing patients’ access to minimally invasive abdominal surgery while reducing costs compared to currently available robotic systems is groundbreaking and we look forward to MIRA becoming the industry standard.”
About cultivate(MD) Funds
As a medical device venture capital fund, cultivate(MD) is dedicated to bringing emerging health care innovations to market, with a special focus on medical device and orthopedic technologies. cultivate(MD) is focused on investing in early-stage healthcare companies with innovative technologies that have demonstrated evidence of effectiveness.
This press release does not constitute an offer to sell or solicitation of an offer to buy any securities in any offering of securities. There will not be any sale of any securities in any state or jurisdiction in which such offering, sale or solicitation would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such state or jurisdiction.
About Virtual Incision
Virtual Incision is reimagining surgical robotics, with simple innovations offering mobility, flexibility and accessibility to provide minimally invasive options to more patients. The company is headquartered in Lincoln, Nebraska.