Editor’s note: WRAL TechWire and the Council for Entrepreneurial development are partnering to present a series of profiles and Q&As featuring companies startups and emerging companies participating in the CED’s annual Life Science conference coming up Feb. 28-March 1 in Raleigh. The latest profile is Promaxo, which is based in Cary.

Promaxo, Inc.

  • Web site: www.promaxo.com                                                                                         
  • CEO: Amit Vohra
  • Contact info: avohra@promaxo.com
  • Type of company: Medical Device                                                                              
  • Headquarters: Cary, NC
  • Year Founded: 2016

COMPANY PROFILE

Promaxo is a medical device company developing and commercializing an office-based, cost effective MRI, biopsy and treatment tools, and automated software for tissue characterization. The Company’s focus is on addressing the needs of the prostate cancer market; and in the long run, it will be exploring indications in female urology, OB/GYN and sports medicine markets. Promaxo’s patented MR technology takes advantage of proprietary ultra-fast and strong rise- and fall-gradients which yield images with spatial resolution of 30 microns, comparable to histology.

The MRI platform is protected by 4 issued and 13 pending patents and has successfully undergone a 26 patient safety trial. There is an established reimbursement pathway and the Company offers an attractive ROI to urology practices, imaging centers and hospitals. The management team has a proven track record of FDA clearances (7 devices) and commercialization, and is supported by premier clinical and business experts.

FOUNDERS/MANAGEMENT TEAM

  • Amit Vohra, PhD, MBA, Chief Executive Officer and Serial entrepreneur
  • Michael Bartholomew, MS, Chief Commercialization Officer, former VP at Pfizer
  • Irving Weinberg, MD, PhD, Chief Medical Officer, technology inventor
  • Alek Nacev, PhD, Technology Lead

KEY MILESTONES TO DATE

  • Funding: Around $9MM in NIH and NSF grants, $1MM+ in seed capital
  • Exclusive, worldwide license to the technology IP (4 issued and another 13 pending patents) for all all medical fields of use except dental and breast
  • The MR platform technology has successfully undergone safety trials
  • Demonstrated spatial resolution of 30 microns, comparable to histology, on phantoms
  • Selected and showcased at AdvaMed 2016 as 1 of 48 Innovation Showcase companies from a competitive field of 500 applicants
  • Invited as 1 of around 60 companies to be showcased at ADA Healthtech Showcase in Silicon Valley
  • MR technology showcased by NSF at their Eureka Pavilion at CES 2017

Q&A

  • What is the primary pain point you are seeking to address?

Current prostate cancer pathway, which follows patients on the basis of elevated PSA and blinded biopsies, results in over-detection and over-treatment of insignificant disease and under-treatment of aggressive disease. USPSTF and AUA have discouraged the widespread use of PSA as a screen for prostate cancer.

Blinded ultrasound biopsy is invasive, has low sampling coverage, and has substantial false negative rate. Mass adoption of MRI by urologists and radiation oncologists is not feasible with the current economics and workflow challenges.

  • What sets your company apart? What’s the “secret sauce”?

Promaxo is transforming prostate cancer care by redefining the pathway of disease screening, diagnosis and treatment. Company’s pelvic MR imager, targeted biopsy and treatment tools, and automated software allow the prostate cancer patients to be managed by urologists and radiation oncologists in an outpatient setting and eliminate the ineffectiveness, costs and workflow issues of current pathway.

Promaxo’s patented MR technology takes advantage of proprietary ultra-fast and strong rise- and fall-gradients, which yield images with spatial resolution comparable to histology. The MRI has been demonstrated to be safe in a double-blinded prospective trial on 26 adult subjects, completed in 2012, as per FDA guidelines. Experimental results on imaged human prostate specimen sections with a bench top MRI prototype showed 30 microns spatial resolution.

  • Why should investors be interested in your company? What is the potential market size?

Promaxo offers a lucrative ROI to investors due to

  • Innovative and validated technologies solving the unmet need of the market
  • Sizable addressable market with compelling value proposition for patients, physicians and payers
  • Proven and talented management team backed by premier clinicians and business advisors
  • Robust and defensible IP portfolio with an exclusive worldwide license to 4 issued and 13 pending patents
  • Established regulatory pathway of conventional 510k and CE Mark
  • Clear reimbursement plan with existing CPT codes
  • Attractive revenue model which includes MR capital equipment sales, consumables for biopsy and treatment, service contracts and software licenses

VIDEO: Watch a video overview about Promaxo at: https://youtu.be/AnGAwM2LlkQ