Supira Medical announced that it closed a $35 million Series B financing round and appointed Nitin Salunke as its new president & CEO.
Cormorant Asset Management led the financing, which officially closed on Feb. 25. The Capital Partnership, 415 Capital, AMED Ventures and Shifamed Angels all participated as well.
Campbell, Calif.-based Supira Medical said in a news release that it plans to use the proceeds from the funding to advance product development and clinical efforts for its next-generation percutaneous ventricular assist device (pVAD).
Supira’s pVADs are used during stent placement or angioplasty to provide temporary mechanical support for patients with severe coronary artery disease or comorbidities. The devices can also be used in treating patients suffering from cardiogenic shock (CS).
“Supira’s innovative approach could potentially provide a meaningful clinical solution for patients requiring temporary mechanical support during coronary interventions,” Cormorant Asset Management founder & managing member Bihua Chen said in a news release. “Despite advances in PCI, a large unmet need exists for high-risk patients and we are excited to lead and further invest in Supira Medical.”
Before joining Supira as president & CEO, Salunke served as a member of the management board and VP of R&D for neurovascular business at Medtronic (NYSE:MDT). Before that, he served as VP of R&D at Altura Medical and director of R&D engineering at what was formerly Johnson & Johnson‘s (NYSE:JNJ)’s Cordis, which was acquired by Cardinal Health (NYSE:CAH).
“I am pleased to join the Supira team as we advance pVAD technology with a low-profile, high-flow solution that aims to improve outcomes for these high-risk patients,” Salunke said in the release.
“I am delighted to have Nitin join and lead Supira at this important time,” added Shifamed founder & Supira chairman Amr Salahieh. “His strong medical device experience and leadership skills make him an ideal fit to spearhead the company towards its first clinical milestone. The closing of this significant financing round speaks to the large, unmet need Supira’s technology will address.”