Vergent Bioscience, a biotech company that is developing a product that allows surgeons to better see tumors, announced Tuesday it has secured $21.5 million in Series B funding.
The Bloomington-based company intends to use the funds to accelerate the clinical development of its tumor-targeting imaging agent called VGT-309, CEO and President John Santini told the Business Journal.
Orlando Health Ventures, an investment firm under Florida-based health care organization Orlando Health, led the financing round, according to the announcement. New investors participated in the round, including Intuitive Surgical, Inc., Windham Venture Partners and Rex Health Ventures, while existing investors Spring Mountain Capital and Colle Capital also provided financing.
Having multiple types of investors from within the surgical oncology field helps affirm “that vision that we have is important and worth pursuing,” Santini said. "We're really excited to have this group of investors supporting us.”
Vergent has now raised $34 million to date, he said.
Founded in 2016, the company is developing a molecule that makes a tumor glow using a fluorescent imaging agent, allowing surgeons to more easily see and remove the tumors during open, minimally invasive and robotic-assisted surgeries, Vergent says. The agent is injected into a patient prior to the procedure.
The product has been studied in clinical trials in Australia and is currently being examined in a Phase 2 clinical trial at the University of Pennsylvania for lung cancer. The company plans to use the Series B financing to fund that trial and an anticipated multicenter study on lung cancer, as well as expand development of the agent for colorectal, gastrointestinal and breast cancer use, Santini said.
If all of the anticipated studies go well, including a Phase 3 trial, the company expects to achieve FDA approval for its product by early 2026, the CEO said.
The company currently has two full-time employees and plans to add a couple more with the new funding, Santini said. He also wants to expand the network of consultants to grow the company’s expertise as the studies continue, he said.
Angel investor Jeff Julkowski initially founded Vergent before Santini was recruited to serve as CEO. Santini, who worked with researchers at Stanford University to refine the company's molecule for use in humans, previously founded other biotechnology companies, including Microchips Biotech Inc. and ApoGen Biotechnologies, the Business Journal previously reported.
