Imalux Closes New Round of Investment

Contact: Paul Amazeen, President & CEO
216-502-0748

Cleveland, OH, November 5, 2002—Local imaging company Imalux Corporation has received another round of investment from local investors. The capital infusion will permit the company to complete design and manufacture of production-quality units of its Optical Coherence Tomography imaging device, conduct clinical trials, and submit for FDA approval, according to President and CEO Paul Amazeen. The devices will be manufactured by Cleveland-based Biomec.

Imalux is positioned to become the leading commercial company in the deployment of Optical Coherence Tomography (“OCT”) to address a wide variety of unmet clinical needs. Optical Coherence Tomography is an emerging, proven technology that is on the verge of becoming the sixth broad imaging technology. Imalux is an Ohio Corporation that is a spin-off of the Institute of Applied Physics, in Nizhny Novgorod, Russia, which is one of the two main progenitors of OCT technology worldwide. It was brought to Cleveland with the help of local investors and service providers.

“The confidence of local investors in Imalux is really a testament to the many years of world class research that have gone into the development of the technology by us and by our partners at the Institute of Applied Physics,” Amazeen said. The Institute, a leading international technology research center, began working on optical coherence tomography over a decade ago. Since that time, the technology has been refined and tested on over 2,000 patients worldwide, including over 300 at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation.

Optical Coherence Tomography uses harmless, low power infrared light to create high quality, real-time medical images. It is particularly useful for identifying structural disruptions in soft tissue that indicate precancerous states or cancer. It is likely to be deployed both as a diagnostic technology and as an adjunct to guided surgery. The technology satisfies a number of unfilled medical needs.

“This is really good news for Northeast Ohio and validation of the community’s efforts to increase commercialization of medical technology in this region,” said Bill Sanford, Chairman of BioEnterprise and an Imalux board member. “This region has a long history of innovation and business development in medical imaging technologies and Imalux has the potential to be a big success. I find it particularly interesting to note that successful new imaging technologies have stimulated the development of successful industry clusters in other regions,” he said.

The continuing development of Imalux also validates a key piece of BioEnterprise’s strategy: to bring more medical technologies to Cleveland from Russia, Israel, and elsewhere. “Cleveland is a natural place for medical technologies to be developed. We have strong medical institutions, a large and diverse manufacturing infrastructure, and a growing base of early stage venture capital to support them,” Sanford said.

The technology was originally brought to Cleveland by the law firm of Hahn Loeser Parks. “It’s pleasing to see the broad community support that has developed behind Imalux. We were early believers in the technology and it was hard work to get the company to where it is now. We hope for its continuing success,” said Hahn Loeser Parks partner Warren Goldenberg.

The round of investment was led by Early Stage Partners, a Cleveland-based venture capital firm. “The response of investors to Imalux has been very good. It’s a testament to this region that, in a difficult time for funding early stage companies, Imalux was able to attract a number of new investors and broaden its base of financial support,” commented Jonathan Murray, managing director of Early State Partners. “We believe there is a big market opportunity for Imalux and that’s why we are continuing to support the company.”

Imalux and Early Stage Partners are both past recipients of the State of Ohio’s Technology Action Fund grant program. Imalux also has benefited from a strong relationship with the Cleveland Clinic Foundation, co-recipient with Imalux of the TAF grant. Arter & Hadden served as counsel to Imalux for the transaction. Imalux is a 2002 recipient of an Edison Emerging Technology award.

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