Carthera develops therapeutic ultrasound medical devices that temporarily open the blood‑brain barrier to enhance delivery of chemotherapy, immunotherapy and other agents for brain tumors and severe brain disorders. Its flagship product, the SonoCloud® intracranial implant, uses low‑intensity pulsed ultrasound to create a reversible, localized BBB opening for several hours, enabling higher drug concentrations in glioblastoma, brain metastases and investigational neurodegenerative indications.
Funding
$4.8M raised to dateRaised to date based on public sources. This may differ from the amount the company actually raised and is based only on what is publicly available on the internet.
2OFounders
Product
Problem
Therapeutic agents for brain tumors and neurodegenerative diseases cannot reach their targets because the blood‑brain barrier (BBB) blocks drug penetration, limiting efficacy of chemotherapy, immunotherapy and other treatments.
Solution
Carthera’s flagship product, the SonoCloud® intracranial implant, delivers low‑intensity pulsed ultrasound (LIPU) to a localized brain region. A brief four‑minute sonication creates controlled, reversible opening of the BBB for several hours, allowing co‑administered drugs to diffuse into the targeted tissue at higher concentrations. The device is implanted surgically and can be activated repeatedly, enabling multiple treatment cycles without additional invasive procedures. Enhanced drug delivery is being evaluated in clinical trials for glioblastoma, brain metastases, Alzheimer’s disease and ALS, in partnership with international pharmaceutical companies. By improving drug exposure in the brain, SonoCloud® aims to increase therapeutic response while maintaining safety through precise, localized BBB disruption.
Target Audience
Primary customers are pharmaceutical companies developing brain‑targeted therapies and clinical investigators conducting oncology or neurodegenerative disease trials that require enhanced drug delivery to the central nervous system.
Features
- Implantable intracranial device that emits low‑intensity pulsed ultrasound to open the BBB on demand
- Four‑minute sonication protocol produces a reversible BBB opening lasting several hours
- Compatible with a wide range of systemic agents, including chemotherapy, targeted therapies and immunotherapies
- Enables repeated, minimally invasive BBB disruption for multi‑cycle treatment regimens
- ISO 13485‑certified design and manufacturing ensuring compliance with medical device standards
- Integrated with microbubble resonators to enhance ultrasound‑mediated BBB permeability