Neural Analytics, a Los Angeles-based medical robotics company that develops and commercializes technologies for measuring and tracking brain health, announced it has raised about $22 million from the sale of Series C shares led by Alpha Edison. And Neural Analytics also issued warrants to purchase stock in connection to the financing. Founded by CEO Leo Petrossian, PhD, VP of Software Engineering Dan Hanchey, and Chief Scientific Officer Robert Hamilton, PhD, Neural Analytics has raised about $66 million in total funding including this round.
According to the CDC, neurological diseases like strokes affect more than 795,000 people per year in the U.S. And a large percentage of that figure are cryptogenic meaning that the reasons are unknown. Patent Foramen Ovale (PFO), a type of right-to-left shunt affecting 1 in 4 people has been a risk factor for ischemic stroke and it is commonly screened in patients with cryptogenic strokes. If incorrect assessments are made or there are misdiagnoses and treatment delays, then it could result in death or disabilities. This is a major problem that Neural Analytics is working towards solving.
“Over the past six years, we have worked very hard to develop and validate new technologies into impactful products. Though the culmination of years of our work into U.S. FDA clearance & European CE mark was a meaningful milestone in 2018, it was only the start of our journey. With this financing Neural Analytics will be able to launch the Lucid Robotic System into clinical environments where it will have the greatest impact on patient outcomes,” said Petrossian.
Neural Analytics is known for building the Lucid Robotic System — which features cutting-edge technology combining the Lucid M1 Transcranial Doppler (TCD) System with the NeuralBot System. It is essentially an autonomous all-in-one robotic neurovascular ultrasound device designed to non-invasively search, measure, and display objective brain blood flow information in real-time.
“We are honored to deepen our partnership with Neural Analytics. Over the past year, the company has gained both FDA and EU CE Mark clearance for their revolutionary platform, which harnesses machine learning and robotics to accurately and quickly identify critical neurological conditions. We are confident that the company will play a central role in shaping the future of data-driven diagnostics and bringing new technologies to healthcare professionals to better care for their patients,” added Alpha Edison managing partner and Neural Analytics board member Nick Grouf.
The Lucid Robotic System also goes beyond supporting initial neurological assessment. And it can be utilized throughout the patient care chain ranging from the use of a buddy study in the identification of right-to-left shunts to monitoring for cerebral blood flow velocities in real time to emboli monitoring. Currently, the Lucid Robotic System is active at select centers around the U.S. And Neural Analytics is going to continue expanding its commercialization.
The funding round announcement comes on the heels of Neural Analytics’ recent enrollment of their first patients into the CODEX Study — which is a prospective, single-arm, global multi-center study for using an investigational iteration of the Lucid Robotic System. And the company is aiming to further explore the technical feasibility of this technology in a wider range of patients and neurological pathologies where monitoring brain blood flow data would be beneficial in the assessment of neurological diseases.
