Stealthy NuPulseCV last week reported a funding round worth nearly $4.5 million for the intravascular ventricular assist system it’s developing.
Raleigh, N.C.-based NuPulseCV said the equity offering, which began June 11, hopes ultimately to raise $25 million. Thirteen unnamed investors participated, according to a regulatory filing.
The device is designed to be a less-invasive alternative to left ventricular-assist devices, heart pumps that require an open surgical procedure to implant. Inserted through the left subclavian artery, the pump and electrodes are connected to a six-pound external drive. NuPulseCV is running an investigational device exemption study that had treated six advanced heart failure patients as of September 2016, according to The Forefront, a website published by the University of Chicago.
The first four patients in the IDE trial made it to heart transplantation, according to the site. NuPulseCV is aiming to win indications for bridge-to-transplant, bridge-to-recovery and destination therapy, according to the website.
“Our hope is that this approach will improve life for patients with advanced heart failure,” Dr. Valluvan Jeevanandam told Forefront. “LVADs are great. They prolong life, but we suspect a lot these patients could benefit from a less-invasive device, particularly one with potentially fewer complications and one they can better control. Due to the long rehabilitation and potential complications, only 35 percent of LVAD patients ever get transplanted.”
