Vascular Flow Technologies said today it raised $14.3 million (£10 million) through multiple rounds of financing to support research & development, strategic joint development and out-licensing agreements with industry partners.
The funding round consisted of 2 tranches; a $10 million (£7 million) loan note restructuring into Series A ordinary preference shares and a $4.3 million (£3 million) Series B financing round led by an undisclosed family office and joined by international and individual angel investors, the company said.
The U.K.-based company will use the funds as it shifts its focus towards operating as a technology transfer business, applying its Spiral Laminar Flow technology to vascular and endovascular devices. VFT said it will support the application through the use of computational fluid dynamics and finite element analysis.
“The realignment of the business supports VFT’s natural evolution from an innovative medical devices company, through to a tech transfer business. The £10 million secured in this investment round will make a significant impact on the transition, and allow us to continue to work with the key players in the sector to apply SLF technology to address unmet clinical needs in vascular and endovascular markets. In addition, the financing will enable us to build further clinical and health economic evidence for SLF technology,” CEO Bill Allan said in a press release.
The SLF technology is designed to replicate natural blood flow and eliminate the turbulent blood flow associated with diseased vessels and standard prosthetic vascular grafts, VFT said. The company has “a number” of clinical trials underway in the U.S. and Europe aiming to examine long-term clinical and economic outcomes of the technology.
The company’s new business model will focus on collaborative work, with current collaborations including work in stents and hemodialysis access catheters.