Sources inform ''Globes'' that medical imaging start-up CheckCap Ltd. has raised $5 million from Pontifax Fund. The company declined to comment on the report.
CheckCap was founded in 2004 and has been financed until now by private investors. According to IVC online, the company was founded by Dr. Yoav Kimchy, a serial entrepreneur who was formerly VP R&D and general manager Israel at Spectrum Dynamics Ltd. CheckCap CEO is Guy Neev.
CheckCap is developing an imaging capsule for the large intestine. The capsule contains a radar system that creates a 3D image of the large intestine, enabling the diagnosis of tumors on the intestine wall. The capsule is undergoing animal trials, and the company expects to begin human clinical trials early next year.
The diagnostic market for the large intestine is extremely attractive to medical firms, since health organizations worldwide recommend that everyone over the age of 50 undergo regular check-ups for intestinal cancer. In cases of people with a family history of intestinal cancer, the recommendation is to undergo check-ups from the age of 40.
CheckCap's most prominent competitors are Given Imaging Ltd. (Nasdaq: GIVN; TASE: GIVN) and Olympus Corp. (TSE: 7733; DAX: OLY; Pink Sheets: OCPNY). The biggest problem with Given Imaging's capsule endoscope, the PillCam, is that the large intestine wall is folded and the intestine itself is full of waste, which makes it difficult to see polyps on the intestinal wall.
Gamma-ray imaging solves this problem because the imaging device can distinguish between the contents of the intestine and the intestinal wall. The 3D image of the intestinal wall also surmounts the problem of the wall's folds. CheckCap made a technological breakthrough by reducing the size of the radar system to fit into a capsule that can be swallowed. The capsule's level of radiation is far less than in a CT scan, and is about the same dosage as an ordinary X-ray.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on March 26, 2008
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