Cagent Vascular closes $12m Series B

Cagent Vascular said today it closed a $11.9 million Series B round of financing to help support expand manufacturing and a limited launch of the company’s Serranator Alto angioplasty device.

The round was led by two strategic investors and joined by Balestier Investments, Ben Franklin Technology Partners, Synergy Ventures and other private investors, the Wayne, Penn.-based company said.

Cagent Vascular’s Serranator is an angioplasty device that uses serrated metal strips on a semi-complaint balloon to create multiple longitudinal lines of micro-serrations within the luminal surface to aid in arterial expansion, which the company claims results in controlled lumen gain.

“The Serranator’s serration technology is unique in that it combines an effective vessel dilatation technology with a highly deliverable system on a single platform. In my experience, it is quite effective in calcified or highly fibrotic lesions where balloon angioplasty has historically fallen short,” Dr. Mahmood Razavi of Orange, Ca.’s St. Joseph Hospital said in a press release.

The company said its Serranator Alto has shown positive results in an above-the-knee study, specifically in patients with severe calcium.

Proceeds from the Series B round will support further development efforts, and in pursuit of expanded indications and regulatory clearances, Cagent Vascular said.

“The breadth and diversity of the investor base reflects an understanding of the value proposition that this technology delivers. We believe that the Serranator Alto’s ability to operate even in highly calcified vessels is a significant differentiating factor for the product, which owes its performance to the serrated metal strips that score the lesion and aid in dilatation. We are confident that these characteristics will benefit our Serranator Bass product, which is designed for use in diseased infrapopliteal arteries where current treatment options are generally poor due to the diffuse calcified nature of these vessels. Treatment of critical limb ischemia remains an enormous area of interest where we believe the device will shine and will become the new standard of care for below-the-knee interventions,” CEO Carol Burns said in a prepared statement.

Last February, Cagent Vascular said that it won 510(k) clearance from the FDA for its Serranator Alto balloon catheter, which is designed to treat peripheral artery disease.