The Venture Codex

Participated · Series B · May 2023

Cadence Neuroscience develops a neuromodulation therapy that uses chronic subthreshold cortical stimulation to modulate EEG biomarkers and reduce or eliminate seizures. The therapy is based on research from a Mayo Clinic neurology and neurosurgery team led by Gregory Worrell, M.D., Ph.D. Cadence is clinical‑stage and intends to use the new funding to complete pivotal clinical studies and pursue FDA clearance. The company is led by CEO Kent Leyde and was founded in 2017. It is based in Redmond, WA and focuses on treating both pediatric and adult patients with focal drug‑resistant epilepsy. Cadence recently closed a Series B financing to advance its clinical program. Cadence Neuroscience is an early-stage medical device company founded in 2017 by Kent Leyde and based in Redmond, Wash. Its core technology was developed at Mayo Clinic’s Rochester campus and is currently under clinical evaluation. The company is developing a therapy that uses chronic subthreshold cortical stimulation to modulate EEG biomarkers associated with epilepsy to reduce or eliminate seizures; the approach was developed by a Mayo Clinic neurology and neurosurgery team led by Gregory Worrell, Mathew Stead, Brian Lundstrom, Ben Brinkmann and Jamie VanGompel. Cadence plans to use new funding to further develop the technology, conduct clinical studies, and pursue FDA approval. The company focuses on therapies for epilepsy and other neurological disorders and remains in early clinical and development stages.

Led · Series A · Feb 2021

Advanced Chemotherapy Technologies, Inc. is a clinical-stage company developing the ACT-IOP-003 implantable iontophoresis system to deliver chemotherapy directly into pancreatic tumors. The device uses a mild electrical current to drive drugs such as gemcitabine through the dense tumor microenvironment, aiming to increase tumor drug concentration while minimizing systemic toxicity. In preclinical studies, 100% of pancreatic tumors treated with device-delivered gemcitabine shrank by an average of 40%, while tumors treated with intravenously delivered gemcitabine grew an average of 240%. The company plans to use the newly announced Series A funding to start initial clinical development of ACT-IOP-003 in locally advanced non-resectable and borderline resectable pancreatic cancer. The technology was developed in the laboratories of Jen Jen Yeh, MD, and Joseph M. DeSimone, PhD, at the University of North Carolina and is licensed from UNC Chapel Hill. Advanced Chemotherapy Technologies has prior funding from NIH SBIR awards, strategic loans from the North Carolina Biotechnology Center, and seed financing in 2017, and recently closed additional Series A investments totaling $8.0M.