New Funding Accelerates Commercial Launch Of HistoSonics’ Tumor-Destroying Platform

Liver cancer diagnoses are predicted to accelerate at a frightening pace in the near future, with a surge of over 50% projected to occur in the next 18 years. It’s natural, then, that a tumor-destroying platform such as Edison from startup HistoSonics would pivot to focus on attacking malignant liver tissue. The Minneapolis-based company has wrapped up clinical trials for Edison’s ability to do so, using a new approach to tissue destruction guided by real-time imaging known as histotripsy, and HistoSonics has used the momentum to rake in $85 million in investment in order to accelerate an imminent commercial launch and then move on to add additional indications.

The latest round of financing was led by Johnson & Johnson Innovation, the pharma titan’s VC arm, with participation from Venture Investors, Lumira Ventures, Yonjin Venture, and the State of Wisconsin Investment Board, among others. J&J was also on hand for HistoSonics’ previous fundings, including a $54 million Series C that closed in early 2019 that was spearheaded by Varian Medical Systems — which has since been scooped up by Siemens Healthineers. 2020 saw a $40 million follow-up C-1 round led by Yonjin Venture.

Parallel with the sizable VC infusion, the company has also managed to double the size of its debt facility with Signature Bank and in the process gained access to an additional $15 million to bankroll its ambitious plans for expansion.