HistoSonics is shopping for a potential buyer of its approach to destroying liver tumors with focused sound waves, according to the Financial Times.
That includes early takeover discussions with major medtechs including Medtronic, GE HealthCare and Johnson & Johnson, at valuations possibly north of $2.5 billion, the report said.
J&J has been a long-time backer of HistoSonics through its Johnson & Johnson Innovation venture investment arm—which joined the former Fierce 15 winner’s $102 million series D round last August, after leading an $85 million financing in December 2022.
GE HealthCare, meanwhile, signed up to distribute HistoSonics’ hardware in May 2022, with a plan to pair it with its ultrasound imaging systems.
The news comes shortly after HistoSonics posted 12-month data from a clinical trial of its non-invasive Edison platform, which employs powerful, targeted ultrasound to mechanically liquify cancer tissue within the liver without breaking the skin or generating heat.
Among 47 participants with primary hepatocellular carcinoma—or cancer from other organs that had grown and metastasized to the liver—90% demonstrated local tumor control after one year, the company said in an April 28 announcement. All of the patients in the trial had either previously tried or were deemed ineligible for standard treatments, such as surgery, radiation or ablation.
Follow-up imaging scans also showed that HistoSonics’ approach was able to preserve healthy internal structures like blood vessels and bile ducts. The initial results of the liver cancer study were used to obtain an FDA de novo clearance for the Edison histotripsy system in October 2023. The platform is also being studied in kidney and pancreatic cancer.
According to the Financial Times, HistoSonics had also begun exploring going public, but it is now opting for a sale amid the uncertainty currently hitting the stock markets. The report pegged the private company’s revenue predictions at $100 million this year and $200 million in 2026.