Toronto-based Profound Medical Corporation and Royal Philips have entered into a definitive agreement to expand their existing business relationship and transfer Philips’ Sonalleve MR-HIFU business to Profound for a 12% minority interest in Profound.
As it transitions from development-stage to growth, Profound will become the only magnetic resonance (MR) guided ultrasound company to provide bi-directional ablation capabilities. Bi-directional means both “inside-out,” where directional ultrasound is generated inside the body and pointed outward, and “outside-in,” where the focused ultrasound is applied from outside the body.
“This agreement with Philips is in keeping with our commitment to invest in the powerful combination of real-time MR-guidance as the imaging platform and ultrasound as the energy source for delivering a non-invasive ablative technology to clinicians,” commented Dr. Arun Menawat, Profound’s CEO. “These key technology pillars, linked with intelligent software and robotics, have the potential to fulfill various unmet needs of patients and clinicians in many anatomies and disease states.”
“We recognize the broader value MR-guided HIFU therapies can bring to clinicians and their patients, and we appreciate Profound’s strengths in the area of MR-guided ultrasound ablation therapy,” said Rob Cascella, Chief Business Leader for Diagnosis and Treatment at Royal Philips. “We believe that the increased scale of the business as a result of the transfer of Philips’ MR-HIFU activities to Profound and the resulting enhanced close collaboration will accelerate the development of new clinical applications for this promising technology, while better serving the needs of our current and future MR-HIFU customers.”
Philips and Profound will also expand their non-exclusive strategic sales relationship to include distribution of Sonalleve MR-HIFU. Philips already distributes Profound’s TULSA-PRO® system, which is designed specifically for ablation of prostate tissue and also uses real time MR imaging with thermal ultrasound for precise ablation.
“At Profound, we see a world where patients no longer need to choose between living well and living long, or between undergoing clinically effective procedures and returning quickly to their normal lives,” said Menawat. “By leveraging MR-guidance and ultrasound to deliver incision-free, safe, personalized, precise, fast, and cost-effective therapeutic solutions, I believe we are well on our way toward realizing that vision.”
Read the Philips Press Release >
Read the Profound Press Release >
See Coverage on MassDevice.com >
Related story from September 2015: Profound Partners with Philips for Prostate >