Sonendo Inc. says tooth decay is “the most prevalent chronic disease globally.”
The Laguna Hills-based dental surgery device maker, started by a father and son team, aims to combat that disease, as a public company. Sonendo said it plans to go public on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol SONX.
The venture is the latest for Olav Bergheim, 71, and his son Bjarne Bergheim, 47, both of whom have successfully started several companies.
Olav Bergheim, who was a corporate vice president at Baxter Healthcare for 18 years, in 1998 co-founded the Aliso Viejo-based ophthalmic company Glaukos Corp. (NYSE: GKOS), which nowadays has a market cap around $2.2 billion.
Bjarne Bergheim, a graduate of University of California, Irvine, has long been involved in medical devices, including 3F Therapeutics, where he invented a transapical heart-valve delivery platform and the company was eventually acquired by Medtronic.
In 2005, the pair co-founded Fjord Ventures LLC, a Laguna Hills-based accelerator for medical devices, diagnostics and biopharmaceuticals.
A year later, they began Sonendo, with Bjarne Bergheim taking over the chief executive role in 2008.
Olav Bergheim remains a director on the board, whose chairman is Anthony Bihl III, who has been a CEO at American Medical Systems and Bioventus LLC.
GentleWave System
As of June 30, Sonendo had a total of 203 employees.
Its Laguna Hills-based headquarters comprises 55,000 square feet, which includes its 10,000-square-foot manufacturing facility.
Its primary focus is the commercialization of its GentleWave System, which transforms root canal therapy, or RCT, the company said in its preliminary prospectus.
Cleared by the FDA in 2014, the GentleWave System employs a sterilized, single-use procedure instrument that combines procedure fluid optimization and acoustic energy to disinfect deep regions of the root canal system in a “less invasive” procedure, preserving tooth structure.
Clinical benefits of the GentleWave system when compared to conventional methods of RCT indicate superior cleaning, “rapid rates” of healing, and minimal to no post-operative pain, the company said.
It reports over 600,000 patients have been treated with the GentleWave Systems since it went to market in 2017.
“We’re changing root canal therapy in a big way,” Bjarne Bergheim told the Business Journal earlier this year.
“We are proud to have completed over 600,000 GentleWave Procedures, i.e., over 600,000 patients whose pain and infection was resolved, and natural teeth saved by endodontists,” Bergheim said ealier this year.
Growing Revenue
Sonendo ranked among OC’s fastest-growing private companies in 2018 and 2019, according to Business Journal data. Last year when COVID-19 closed many dental offices, Sonendo reported revenue declined 33% to $23.4 million in 2020.
Sales rebounded in the first six months this year to $15.4 million respectively, representing a growth rate of 80%.
By the beginning of 2020, it had raised $85 million in funding. It counted about $26 million of cash on hand as of June 30 and carried an accumulated deficit of $285.6 million.
The IPO listed a placeholder $100 million value for funds it expects to raise.
Sonendo said the net proceeds from the IPO will be used to expand its commercial organization, increase its sales and marketing programs, fund research and development of its products, and potentially acquire complementary “products, technologies or businesses.”
Sonendo’s IPO plans follow its acquisition on Oct. 5 of Israeli dental company, FluidFile Ltd., for an undisclosed amount.
The company said the merger augmented its intellectual property portfolio to over 119 global patents.
The 5% Owners
Regulatory filings indicate its stakeholders with more than 5% ownership include General Atlantic, Orbimed, Meritech Capital and EW Healthcare. The amount of shares owned by the Bergheims hasn’t yet been disclosed.
The number of shares to be offered and the expected price range for the proposed offering have not been disclosed.
The IPO underwriters are BofA Securities, Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC, and Piper Sandler, among others.Â
