Israeli Cancer Therapy Firm Alpha Tau Medical Raises $26M

Alpha Tau Medical, an Israeli medical technology company that developed breakthrough radiation cancer therapy, raised $26 million in a Series B round, the company announced on Thursday. Investors in the round included existing backers such as Shavit Capital, Medison Ventures, and OurCrowd, as well as a number of new private and family office investors primarily from Israel and North America.

Alpha Tau Medical was founded in 2016 to focus on R&D and commercialization of its breakthrough cancer treatment, Alpha DaRT (Dіffusіng Alpha-emіtters Radіatіon Therapy). The technology, initially developed in 2003 by Professors Itzhak Kelson and Yona Keisari at Tel Aviv University, delivers high-precision alpha radiation that is released when radioactive substances decay inside the tumor, killing cancer cells while sparing the surrounding healthy tissue.

The company announced late last year that initial results of a preclinical trial have proved very promising.

Alpha Tau said it is now conducting clinical trials in multiple clinical oncology indications, including its first US trial at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York, a pancreatic cancer trial at CHUM (Centre hospitalier de l’Université de Montréal) in Montreal, and trials at three academic institutions in Japan. The company also indicated that it was establishing new global manufacturing facilities in Israel, and is in the process of acquiring CE marking.

These activities and others will be supported by the fresh financing, the company said in a statement.

Alpha Tau Medical CEO Uzi Sofer said, “This will enable us to push forward our mission to help cancer patients across the world, even during these challenging times in which COVID-19 is the focus of everyone’s health concerns.”

Raphi Levy, the company’s CFO added, “We have been very fortunate to continue our progress at full speed across all fronts, including R&D, clinical and operations, and now financing as well, even during a period of global turmoil. As concerns associated with systemic cancer therapies that affect the immune system have become more salient, we see strong interest in our trials from clinicians, patients, and investors who recognize the advantages of a focused and highly potent cancer therapy.”