Medical device maker SpectraScience has acquired the assets of Oncoscope, a US-based optical imaging system developer backed by industrial manufacturing equipment provider Applied Materials, for an undisclosed amount.
Oncoscope is developing technology that uses scattered white light to detect pre-cancerous epithelial tissue, and the first target indication was for Barrett’s Esophagus, a precursor for cancer of the oesophagus.
SpectraScience, which produces spectrophotometry systems that test whether tissue is normal, pre-cancerous or cancerous, will add Oncoscope’s technology to its own, enabling it to test for a wider range of cancers including oesophageal and colon cancers.
Founded in 2006, Oncoscope had raised approximately $5.6m in financing, according to regulatory filings, before Applied Materials invested an undisclosed sum in early 2014 through its corporate venturing unit, Applied Ventures.
Other investors in Oncoscope included venture capital firms Idea Fund Partners and Arcus Ventures, and private equity firm Fulcrum Financial Partners.