OREANDA-NEWS. August 21, 2012. GE (NYSE: GE), together with OrbiMed Israel and Ornim, Inc., announced a USD 20 million investment in Ornim, Inc., a developer of the CerOx™ monitor that non-invasively monitors blood flow and oxygen saturation in brain and muscle tissue.

OrbiMed is a leading investment firm dedicated to building world-class biopharmaceutical and medical technology companies. The investment in Ornim, Inc., is being made through OrbiMed Israel Partners Limited Partnership, OrbiMed's investment fund in Israel, which focuses on Israeli life science investments.

GE’s investment is being made through the GE healthymagination Fund, an equity fund that makes investments in highly promising healthcare technology companies and is jointly managed by GE Capital and GE Healthcare, GE’s financial services and healthcare divisions, respectively. In addition to their financial investment, Ornim and GE Healthcare will be exploring development of potential strategic relationship as part of a broader collaboration.

Maintaining adequate blood flow and oxygenation are primary clinical goals for critical care patients. However, today, a full measurement is only achievable using multiple, often invasive devices. There is a strong clinical need to provide accurate, multi-parameter, continuous monitoring of blood flow and oxygenation in the brain that is both non-invasive and cost-effective.

By using near-infrared spectroscopy combined with ultrasound waves, Ornim’s CerOx is a United States Food & Drug Administration (FDA)-cleared device that enables clinicians to monitor two critical parameters in adult patients: regional hemoglobin oxygen saturation in the brain or in a region of skeletal muscle tissue beneath the CerOx sensor and microcirculation blood flow in tissue. It is also the only device that does so in tandem.

The investment was made as part of a Series B financing round that was led by OrbiMed and that also included Agate Medical Investment LP’s Agate-MAC Fund. The financing will be used for further development, clinical studies, international marketing and commercialization of Ornim’s CerOx monitor. The financial terms of the investment were not disclosed.

“The decision to invest in Ornim was based on the growing realization that there is a crucial need to monitor vital organs (such as the brain) during a variety of medical procedures,” said Dr. Nissim Darvish, Senior Managing Director of OrbiMed. “The uniqueness of Ornim’s technology results from its ability to monitor in real time oxygen saturation in brain tissue, along with microcirculation blood flow. The potential market of this technology is very large, and the current solutions are not adequate. This potential, along with a very professional and experienced team, could allow the company to become a world leader in its field.”

Ornim also announced today the appointment of Mr. Israel Schreiber as the company’s new CEO. Mr. Schreiber has more than 20 years of managerial experience in the medical device industry both in Israel and in the United States. He served as the CEO of Itamar Medical and, most recently, as the CEO of ITGI Medical.

“The investment announced today will enable Ornim to accelerate product development and promote the introduction of the CerOx™ monitor to the international market,” said Schreiber. “The relationship with GE, a world leader in patient monitoring, alongside OrbiMed, one of the largest healthcare venture capital fund managers, provides important benefits, including an in-depth understanding of the market as well as vast operational and marketing experience.”

The investment also is aligned with GE Healthcare’s expanding focus on patient monitoring solutions that can improve healthcare globally, as well as GE’s broader healthymagination initiative, which focuses on reducing cost, increasing patient access and improving quality in healthcare.

“Ornim’s technology is not only innovative but it presents great promise to better monitor patients in a critical care setting, providing additional information to aid clinicians in the care of their patients,” said Thierry Leclercq, General Manager, GE Healthcare Systems Life Care Solutions.

"Ornim is Agate-MAC’s first investment in an Israeli subsidiary,” said Agate-MAC Fund Managing Partner Michel Habib. “We chose to invest because Ornim Medical has developed a market-changing technology that will dramatically improve the ability of the intensivist to monitor the brain condition of patients in critical care procedures, non-invasively.”

Ornim plans to launch the CerOx™ monitor – which also has received CE marking – in the U.S. and European markets within the next 18 months.