Supertron Technologies Inc. ( www.supertron.com), a leading developer of next-generation solutions for high-performance preclinical and clinical Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) coils and probes announced today successfully financing $3.5 million with Amphion Innovations PLC. Supertron is based in the Enterprise Development Center (EDC) (www.njit-edc.org) at New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) (www.njit.edu).
The financing round was supposed to close at $3 million, but the financing increased to $3.5 million due to overwhelming investor demand. "We are excited by the market response to our offering and the validation of the strategic direction for our product and technology set," said C. Richard Hullihen, Supertron CEO.
Supertron's products significantly improve the imaging capabilities of MRI scanners. The cryogenically cooled products enhance image resolution, reduce scan time and lower cost through faster image acquisition. These factors ultimately result in earlier disease detection, faster drug development, and integrated and/or guided therapeutics. Its solutions are applicable in both high and low-field clinical and preclinical research environments imaging objects from molecules to man.
Supertron is also targeting emerging MRI research applications in the fields of molecular imaging, x-nuclei applications, functional MRI, image-guided therapeutics, and orthopedics imaging.
Earlier financing for Supertron included a per-reviewed $2 million grant from the Advanced Technology Program (ATP) at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (2003). The New Jersey Economic Development Authority (EDA) has also awarded the company $500,000 in springboard grants.
"We're indebted to our institutional ATP grant research partners at Brigham & Women's Hospital of Harvard Medical School and our host institution, NJIT. Without NJIT's support we would not have been successful," said Hullihen.
The latest round of financing will support commercializing Supertron's proprietary technology, expanding the intellectual property portfolio, hiring critical staff, and pursuing potential acquisitions.
Supertron is a market leading developer and manufacturer of superconducting and cryogenically cooled preclinical and clinical MRI coils and accessories. Supertron's gateway technology MRI coils have demonstrated capability of significantly increasing speed and resolution of the MRI scanner. Supertron's coils have been demonstrated at leading medical institutions such as Brigham & Women's Hospital of Harvard Medical School.
Since 1988, the Enterprise Development Center (EDC) at New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) has helped inventors move innovative products out of the lab and into the marketplace. A high-tech business incubator housed in a trio of Newark buildings, the EDC provides office and lab space, financial help, business and technical services, and the shared expertise of the center's managers. EDC is open to for-profit enterprises, operating fewer than four years and that offer new technologies. The companies must have a business plan, and show evidence that they will be likely to benefit from EDC's three-year tenancies. EDC aims to reduce risk for fledgling entrepreneurs, ultimately creating businesses that will generate jobs and bolster New Jersey's economy. To date, EDC has graduated more than 75 companies.
New Jersey Institute of Technology, the state's public technological research university, enrolls more than 8,100 students in bachelor's, master's and doctoral degrees in 100 degree programs offered by six colleges: Newark College of Engineering, New Jersey School of Architecture, College of Science and Liberal Arts, School of Management, Albert Dorman Honors College and College of Computing Sciences. NJIT is renowned for expertise in architecture, applied mathematics, wireless communications and networking, solar physics, advanced engineered particulate materials, nanotechnology, neural engineering and eLearning. In 2006, Princeton Review named NJIT among the nation's top 25 campuses for technology recognizing the university's tradition of research and learning at the edge in knowledge.