Dental imaging technology company Calcivis is setting its sights on US growth having secured pre-market approval (PMA) from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
As the first Scottish medical device to secure the coveted accreditation, the Calcivis Imaging System aims to revolutionize the dental sector by enabling the move to a more preventive treatment model.
Calcivis CEO (Adam Christie) and new chair (John Stark) (Pic: Peter Devlin)
PMA approval is only awarded after a statutory process of scientific review to ensure the efficacy and safety of medical devices. PMA accreditation will allow Edinburgh-based Calcivis to tap into the multi-billion dollar US dental market.
The Calcivis Imaging System allows dentists to visualize decay ‘live’ as it happens on patients’ teeth, providing crucial insight as to whether a caries lesion is likely to progress and requires treatment.
The imaging system applies a patented photoprotein which, in the presence of free calcium ions released from an actively decaying tooth surface, produces a very short, low level light flash. An integrated intra-oral sensor within the Calcivis imaging device immediately detects the luminescence (light flash) and presents clinicians with a chair-side demineralization map.
“It’s been a long process with delays caused by COVID restrictions, so we’re very pleased to have achieved PMA status,” said Adam Christie, CEO at Calcivis. “We have an ambitious growth plan for the highly developed US dental market which, with our FDA accreditation, we can now capitalise on.”
“We are building a team in America to take Calcivis to market, and we’re ready to revolutionize patient care,” Christie continued. “Our technology can help shift the paradigm in dental healthcare from ‘drill and fill’ restorative dentistry to a more preventive approach.”
Since it was founded in 2012, Calcivis has raised £16 million investment.
Investors include Archangels, the world’s longest-running business angel investment syndicate, which has been involved with the company from the outset, and Scottish Enterprise, Scotland’s national economic development agency.
“Securing FDA approval is the culmination of more than 10 years’ work for Adam, Bruce and the Calcivis team, and the commercial opportunities it opens up are potentially huge,” said Dr. Sarah Hardy, director and head of new investments at Archangels. “Calcivis being one of, if not the first, Scottish medical device company to have FDA PMA approval is an achievement in itself and is testament to strength not only of the company, but of the broader technology and life science sectors in Scotland. Archangels continues to support Calcivis on the next exciting chapter of its growth.”
“We’ve worked with Calcivis for many years so it’s great to see the company achieve this important approval, enabling the next big step in its growth journey,” said Kerry Sharp, director of entrepreneurship and investment at Scottish Enterprise. “The company’s innovative, preventative approach has helped it go from strength-to-strength, while addressing a significant public health need. The US dental market offers fantastic expansion opportunities and our colleagues in Scottish Development International have also been working with the company to build those all-important overseas connections.”
To find out more about Calcivis, please visit: http://www.calcivis.com/.
About Archangels
Founded in 1992, Archangels is a leading business angel syndicate investing in early-stage Scottish life sciences and technology companies. Archangels comprises around 120 members and an eleven strong board and executive team.
There are currently 21 companies within the portfolio.
For further information on Archangels, please visit www.archangelsonline.com.
About Scottish Enterprise
Scottish Enterprise (SE) is Scotland’s national economic development agency and a non-departmental public body of the Scottish Government. It supports businesses to innovate and scale to transform the Scottish economy by focusing on new market opportunities through targeted investment, innovation, and internationalization. Follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn.
About Calcivis
Calcivis has developed a completely novel dental imaging technology that enables clinicians to visualise active decay early, when it can be stopped and potentially reversed, so that patients can be treated before a cavity develops that requires drilling and filling.
Founded in 2012 by Adam Christie (CEO) and Bruce Vernon (CTO), the company is based at the Edinburgh Bioquarter, and is establishing a US commercial capability in Boston. Calcivis’s major shareholders are Archangels, Scottish Enterprise, and Julz.
For more information, please visit http://www.calcivis.com/.
