Miami Startup Raises $5.5M for Cancer Risk Detection System
February 24, 2015
Miami-based Vigilant Biosciences raised $5.5 million to launch its oral cancer risk detection system, the firm announced Tuesday.
Investors included White Owl Capital Partners, venVelo and the Florida Institute for the Commercialization of Public Research. The company has raised $7.8 million to date.
Vigilant will use the funding to seek regulatory approval for its OncAlert Oral Cancer Risk Assessment System, which it plans to launch this spring.
The system allows health care providers to screen patients for oral cancer by providing them a rinse to swish around their mouths. The rinse detects protein markers that indicate risk for early-stage cancer.
“As hundreds of thousands continue to be diagnosed with oral cancer every year, we are committed to providing an accurate, effective and affordable way to aid in the early detection of risk for the disease,” Vigilant founder and CEO Matthew H.J. Kim said in a news release. “This funding will enable us to address this critical market need that has gone unmet for far too long.”
Before founding Vigilant, Kim started AerovectRx Corporation, the first spin-off company from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
