An Irish medical startup has just raised millions to help commercialise its heart surgery device
The company is also looking to fund a push to get FDA approval for its product.
GALWAY-BASED HEALTH startup Vivasure Medical has just raised €16.2 million in its largest funding round to date.
The money will be used to support the commercialisation of Vivasure’s ‘PerQseal’ technology in Europe and allow it to undergo a US Food and Drug Administration regulatory study.
The med-tech firm – which has developed a device that allows heart surgeons to close up puncture wounds without leaving stitches – has raised nearly €35 million since it was co-founded by Gerard Brett and Christopher Martin in 2009.
The latest fundraising campaign was led by Life Sciences Partners and Evonik Venture Capital. Other investors included venture capital investor Panakès Partners and Dublin-based Fountain Healthcare Partners, which invested in two previous rounds.
Vivasure's closure device
The PerQseal vascular closure device, which uses a synthetic material that can be absorbed by the body, reduces the need for surgeons to open patients up after surgery.
Co-founder and chief executive Gerard Brett said the device is “designed to be easy-to-use” and allows surgeons to finish up procedures without leaving behind metal implants or stitches.
“Our goal is to facilitate improved therapeutic results for patients over the open surgery alternative, faster recovery times and cost savings for the healthcare system,” he said.
The global market for such a technology is expected to swell to over $500 million by 2021.
Vivasure’s device has been successfully evaluated in clinical studies in four European countries, with patients treated in four European countries, achieving a 97% success rate.
Most recent filed accounts for Vivasure show that the company reported a loss of over €3.3 million to the year ended 31 December 2013, pushing accumulated losses to over €14.5 million.
