Closing of Series a Funding to Help Purdue Biotech Company Improve Targeted Cancer Treatments

June 15, 2016

Indianapolis, June 15, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — INDIANAPOLIS, Ind.  – Animated Dynamics Inc. officials announced Wednesday (June 15) that the company has raised $1.7 million in a Series A equity funding round through Indianapolis-based private equity firm Caravel Ventures with co-investments from funds managed byElevate Ventures, Purdue Research Foundation and Vestian.

The funds will be used to accelerate commercialization of Animated Dynamics’ patented bio-dynamic imaging technology, called Motility Contrast Tomography (MCT), to improve targeted cancer treatments.

“Similar to Doppler weather radar measuring the reflection of radio waves from clouds, our technology measures the reflection of light waves within living tissue to build a 3-dimensional image showing the movement of cells and organelles in real time,” said David Nolte, the Edward M. Purcell Distinguished Professor of Physics at Purdue University, who developed the technology at Purdue. “This bio-dynamic image offers novel information about tissue health and function that is simply not available from any other existing technology.”

Nolte is a cofounder of Animated Dynamics and serves as chief scientific officer. Other cofounders are John J. Turek, Purdue professor of basic medical sciences, who serves as vice president; and Ran An, a Purdue graduate assistant who serves as chief technical officer.

Among the most promising applications for MCT technology is the ability to evaluate response (or non-response) of a cancer patient’s tumor to various chemotherapy agents before prescribing a cancer-treating drug.

Early pilot studies have shown that MCT offers a very high predictive value for response and non-response to chemotherapy, and actionable results can be available within 24 hours.

“Only 40 percent of cancer patients benefit from their chemotherapy, yet 100 percent suffer its horrible side-effects. If a technology like ours can improve the odds of selecting the right drug for a specific patient’s cancer, that could benefit millions of people,” said CEO Ted Schenberg, a principal in Caravel.

Travis Morgan, another Caravel principal also has taken an active management role as chief operating and financial officer of Animated Dynamics.

The company expects to market a bio-dynamic therapy selection assay for clinical use by oncologists during 2017.

The latest round of funding complements over $1 million in grants previously awarded to Animated Dynamics by the National Science Foundation, National Institutes of Health and others.

“Animated Dynamics is an archetype of our model to support innovative technology-based firms spawned by Purdue research,” added John Hanak, Purdue Ventures managing director. “After several years of innovation and incubation within Purdue, the founders have been able to attract an executive team with extensive commercial experience in their targeted field of use and private capital to fuel growth from the lab into commercial practice. We couldn’t be more pleased with the achievement of this important milestone.”

Animated Dynamics technology is patented through the Purdue Research Foundation’s Office of Technology Commercialization.

About Animated Dynamics, Inc.
Animated Dynamics invented Motility Contrast Tomography (MCT), an advanced form of digital holography, which measures kinetic activity at the nano-scale. MCT provides an unprecedented view into the physical processes at work within living tissue, allowing researchers and clinicians to quantify the phenomic signature of tissue in three dimensions and measure response to stimuli over time (i.e. four dimensions). The company’s Onco 4D™ test for phenomic chemotherapy selection is expected to become clinically available during 2017. More information is available at http://www.anidyn.com

About Caravel Ventures

Caravel is a lower middle market private equity sponsor focused on technology companies in need of both financial and managerial support to drive growth. Caravel typically acquires a controlling or substantial minority interest and assumes an active executive management role in its portfolio companies. The firm has been responsible for over $20 million in funded private equity transactions since 1998, with an average compound annual return of 23.6 percent realized by investors to date. Current portfolio companies include Animated Dynamics, Inc., and Strand Diagnostics, LLC.  For more information, contact info@caravelventures.com.

About Purdue Foundry

The Purdue Foundry is an entrepreneurship and commercialization hub in Discovery Park’s Burton D. Morgan Center for Entrepreneurship whose professionals help Purdue innovators create startups. Managed by the Purdue Research Foundation, the Purdue Foundry received the 2014 Incubator Network of the Year by the National Business Incubation Association for its work in entrepreneurship. For more information about funding and investment opportunities in startups based on a Purdue innovation, contact the Purdue Foundry atfoundry@prf.org

About Elevate Ventures

Elevate Ventures is a private venture development organization that nurtures and develops emerging and existing high-potential businesses into high-performing, Indiana-based companies. Elevate Ventures accomplishes this by providing access to capital, rigorous business analysis and robust advisory services that connect companies with the right mix of resources businesses need to succeed long-term. To learn more about Elevate Ventures, its team and its funds under management, visit www.elevateventures.com.