Sonodynamic therapy, Alpheus Medical’s novel brain cancer treatment, starts with an FDA-approved drug that accumulates in cancer cells. “We’re able to bathe the whole brain with ultrasound,” explains founder Vijay Agarwal. “It picks off the tumor cells that have taken up the drug.” As a neurosurgeon, Agarwal had noted a lack of advancement in brain cancer treatment. This spring, his Chanhassen-based company, launched in 2014, completed Series B funding at $52 million. Next up: controlled trials, then market entry. “There’s a reason I decided to start the company” in Minnesota, Agarwal says. The state’s medtech talent “is really unmatched.” In 2026, controlled trials: “We treat patients with newly diagnosed brain cancer to show that [sonodynamic therapy] is better than the standard of care.”