IRRAS said today that it acquired the assets of InnerSpace Neuro Solutions in a deal worth $700,000, and released its first quarter earnings release.
The Stockholm-based company said that assets purchased include proprietary single and multi-lumen cranial access bolts, parenchymal intracranial pressure monitoring tech and a cranial access kit. The devices already have FDA 510(k) clearance, the company added.
IRRAS said that the devices will complement its own IRRA Flow product line, and will “substantially expand the company’s available product portfolio.” The company added that it plans to launch sales of the devices during the third quarter of this year.
“This is a unique opportunity for IRRAS to strengthen its position and become a leader in the neurocritical care market. These innovative and proprietary products are a perfect fit to our product portfolio. In addition, we will use established InnerSpace sales channels to introduce Irra Flow to new customers,” prez & CEO Kleanthis Xanthopoulos said in a press release.
IRRAS reported an operating loss of approximately $4.1 million (SEK 39.1 million), with losses per share of approximately 17¢ per share (SEK 1.61) for the three months ended March 31.
The company touted that during the first quarter, it treated its first patients in the US with its Irra Flow product, and that it has launched a plan evaluating a possible listing of its stocks on Nasdaq Stockholm’s main market in 2019.
“The launch in the US continues according to plan. The first patients were successfully treated in January, and the initial treated patients have been followed with great interest by a number of US hospitals. At the moment, we have support from physicians at more than 35 US hospitals, and our commercial team is taking the needed steps for these facilities to evaluate Irra Flow. In April, AANS (American Association of Neurological Surgeons) held its yearly scientific meeting in San Diego. IRRAS participated and generated significant interest. Our direct sales team is now following up with these leads across the US. In connection with AANS, we had also our first US KOL meeting, which was very well received by the participants. We believe that the sales process in the US for a new technology takes up to 6 months after initial contact with a new customer before revenue is generated. Our US launch commenced during Q4 2018, and our launch remains on track with the first purchase orders shipped to customers in early April,” Xanthopoulos said in a press release. “The first US sales were reported first week of April. Thus, due to the delay in the recertification of the CE mark in the EU and pending sales in the US, no sales were reported during the first quarter of 2019. EBIT for the first quarter of the year was SEK -39.1 million (-21.1). The increased costs are primarily attributable to the planned organizational expansion within sales and marketing, production, R&D and administration. The average number of employees in the first quarter of 2019 was 32, compared with 17 in the year-earlier period. Our available liquidity as of March 31, 2019 amounted to SEK 116 million, including short- and long-term financial investments.”
Shares in IRRAS rose approximately 3.5% today, closing at $23.70 at 5:00 p.m. CEST.
In January, IRRAS said that a healthcare team in Southern California is the first to use the company’s Irra Flow device on a U.S. patient with intracranial bleeding.