Now in one of the largest medical device company financings of 2004, Pelikan has announced the closing of a $29.2 million Series D preferred stock financing with several leading international investors. This brings the total financing into the company up to $46.2 million since its founding in 2001.
Pelikan's first product, which is expected to be launched in the spring of 2005, is the Pelikan Sun lancing device. Based on the company's "one-step, one-button" approach, this lancing device is the first fully-automated, electronically-controlled, self-contained system that allows a patient to execute the entire lancing process at the touch of a button in a virtually painless operation. Lancing, an often painful act of piercing the skin in order to obtain a sample of blood for glucose measurement, is required multiple times each day for millions of people with diabetes.
Head of Cranfield University at Silsoe, Professor Tony Turner was intimately involved in the development of this innovative product and said " The device, not only improves the ease of use and convenience for people with diabetes but it also significantly reduces the pain of a procedure that millions of diabetics go through multiple times a day. This is an especially important breakthrough for diabetic children, who often have very sensitive skin."
Proceeds from this financing will be primarily used to support Pelikan's commercialisation of the FDA-cleared Pelikan Sun
"We are excited to have achieved this important financial milestone, which will enable Pelikan to broaden the commercialization efforts of the Pelikan Sun product," said Pelikan's President and CEO, Dirk Boecker, M.D., Ph.D. "As important, this new capital will allow us to accelerate the development of our cutting-edge fully-integrated glucose-testing and monitoring device, positioning Pelikan to launch the system in 2007."