Novel heart failure device developer VisCardia said yesterday it closed a $12.5 Series B financing round and picked up the Inovise Medical’s assets and technology rights.
Technology and assets from Inovise will support the continued development of VisCardia’s proprietary implantable heart failure therapy device, the Portland, Ore.-based company said.
VisCardia’s implantable heart failure system is designed to stimulate the thoracic cavity musculature to mechanically augment cardiac systole and diastolic filling for heart failure patients with reduced ejection fraction and normal ventricular electrical conduction.
“Our pre-clinical and human data demonstrates that our therapy chronically improves systolic and diastolic function without exhibiting adverse muscle fatigue. This evidence, along with the pressing need for new chronic heart failure therapies in patients with normal electrical function, helped drive our successful round in preparation for the next round of studies using our newly developed system,” VisCardia prez & CEO Peter Bauer said in a press release.
The Series B round was led by Kinetic Capital Partners, the company said. VisCardia said it was also tapping Dr. Michal Mirro as its new director of medical affairs.
“As a pioneer in the field of cardiac electrophysiology, implantable device therapy, and clinical research, Dr. Mirro will be an integral part of VisCardia’s therapy development and commercialization process. He brings a deep clinical expertise with novel implantable device research practices As a renowned opinion leader in medical technology and clinical standards of care for implantable devices, Dr. Mirro’s expertise will help us shape clinical practice for our therapy to be adopted as a standard of care,” CEO Bauer said in a prepared release.
“The clinical standard of care for heart failure has a well-known gap of device therapies for the significant majority of patients with reduced ejection fraction yet preserved ventricular synchrony. I’m excited to join this initiative since preliminary data has demonstrated VisCardia’s unique therapy targets the primary issue with chronic heart failure, namely reduced hemodynamic function while operating at a delicate tipping point of filling and energetics. I am extremely excited to help support the team of extraordinary device scientists who will bring to market a novel device to manage heart failure, and bring life-saving technology to a large group of patients who cannot benefit from cardiac resynchronization therapy,” Dr Mirro said in a prepared statement.
