Siva Therapeutics is a Boulder, Colorado–based startup formed in 2011 that develops photothermal therapies built around engineered gold nanorods called SivaRods. SivaRods are suspended in liquid and injected into skin lesions where near-infrared light heats the nanorods to selectively destroy tumor tissue; the company says the approach is more selective than chemotherapy and less destructive than radiation. In early mouse studies the therapy eliminated tumors in as few as 25 days. Initially Siva is targeting the skin cancer market and also has a bladder cancer application in early development. The company recently began new preclinical studies to evaluate SivaRods as a stand-alone and combination cancer therapy. A recent financing round and grant enabled the startup to expand operations and initiate those studies.

Total raised

$1M

Funding rounds

2

Latest round

Grant

Latest activity

Dec 2012