Sontra Medical Secures $1 Million Financing

Sontra Medical Corporation (SONT.PK), a Franklin, MA company focused on transdermal drug delivery and diagnosis, has closed $1 million in financing. Internal sources — a board member and an executive — contributed $105,000 of the sum. Sontra issued one-million $1 units; additional closings, where the company would issue more units with the same terms, may occur in the future for up to $2 million.

Sontra already has one FDA-approved product under its belt: SonoPrep is an ultrasound-mediated skin permeation technology, used with topical lidocaine, for achieving rapid (within five minutes) skin anesthesia before patients get injections and IV insertions.

Now the company is putting its technology toward other applications, including glucose monitoring, and vaccine and drug delivery. For glucose monitoring — a market that Sontra says is worth $5 billion, with a 20% growth rate — the company is teamed up with Bayer’s (BAY) diabetes division to develop a non-invasive, continuous transdermal glucose monitor.

Sontra’s last financing took place in January 2007, when it closed $660,000, led by Sherbrooke Partners. The company had been looking for capital, including angel funding, throughout the latter half of 2006, to no avail. Then-CFO Harry Mitchell (he’s now serving as interim CEO) retold the frustrating experience to Boston Business Journal, “I realize from talking to people that the days when people were looking for a good concept (to fund) … that doesn’t happen as much anymore.”