Last week, Perimeter Medical Imaging AI, Inc. (TSXV: PINK) announced that approximately 2.35 million warrants subject to an accelerated expiry were exercised, resulting in cash proceeds to the company of over C$4.7 million.
Inclusive of the C$4.7 million raised from the exercise of accelerated warrants noted above, Perimeter received over C$7.28 million from the accelerated warrant exercise and can expect a further C$0.68 million if the remaining warrants are exercised by March 8.
The company plans to use the proceeds in its commercialization and development plans to bring Perimeter’s medical imaging solution to the market in 2021. Perimeter’s direct clinical sales efforts include a limited market release of the platform this quarter with a broader commercial launch in the second quarter.
Perimeter’s OTIS™ Platform
Perimeter is a medical technology company utilizing ultra-high-resolution, real-time, advanced imaging tools in cancer surgeries to improve patient outcomes and reduce costs in the healthcare system.
Perimeter’s OTIS™ platform, cleared by the FDA as an imaging tool, is a system that provides surgeons, radiologists, and pathologists with ultra-high-resolution, sub-surface image volumes to allow clinicians to visualize microscopic tissue structures during a clinical procedure.
The Problem Being Solved
According to Dr. Alastair Thompson, MD, a surgical oncologist and professor at Baylor, “One of the big problems in breast cancer surgery is that in about one in four women on whom we do a lumpectomy to remove cancer, we fail to get clear margins.”
Therefore doctors are searching for an effective and user-friendly tool to help identify that the breast cancer has been removed from a woman’s breast.
Baylor is one of many institutions that is conducting a study with Perimeter’s medical imaging system for providing real-time, high-resolution images of the removed tissues to assist cancer surgeons in making better decisions during operations.
Hospitals see this type of system could lead to a large improvement in patient care and reduce the need for second surgeries.
Atlas AI Project – Artificial Intelligence (AI) / Machine Learning (ML) Tools
In addition, Perimeter is advancing its advanced AI/ML image assessment tools through clinical development through its Atlas AI project.
Backed by a $7.4 million grant awarded by the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT), a leading state body that funds cancer research, the project will collect images of breast tumors from up to 400 patients for the purpose of training and testing Perimeter’s “ImgAssist” AI technology to increase the efficiency of image review.
AI and analytics are seen as a way to address the inefficiencies and challenges that current operating rooms are facing in identifying cancerous tissues. According to the company, currently 1 in 4 patients who receive a lumpectomy has to come back for a second operation because the surgeon did not remove all of the cancer cells.
Focus on Breast Cancer but Applications Beyond
Cancer continues to grow amongst the population and puts a burden on the healthcare system. According to the World Cancer Research Fund, breast cancer is the most common cancer in women worldwide, representing about 25 percent of all cancers in women.
In 2021, Breastcancer.org estimates that over 330,000 new cases of breast cancer are expected to be diagnosed in the United States and over 43,000 women are expected to die from breast cancer.
While currently focusing on deployments targeting breast cancer centers, OTIS™ has applications beyond breast cancer and into the larger multi-billion-dollar cancer surgery market.
Final Thoughts
According to a recent industry report from Markets and Markets, the Surgical Imaging Market is projected to grow from US$1.8 billion in 2020 and reach US$2.4 billion by 2025, growing by 6.3% annually.
One of the major factors driving the growth of this market includes the increasing demand for minimally invasive procedures that Perimeter’s platform addresses.
With the commercial launch of the product scheduled for this year, Perimeter has the potential to benefit from this growing market.
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