Aleva Neurotherapeutics has raised US$13 million in a Series D financing round. The round was led by Forrestal Capital, a fund with specific experience in neurological devices. Aleva’s existing investors have also participated in the round.
Aleva says that the proceeds of the financing will be used to complete the acquisition of a CE mark for the company’s proprietary directSTIM Directional Deep Brain Stimulation System. The successful results of Aleva’s directSTN pilot study were published in Brain and strongly suggest the potential of directional stimulation in improving surgical outcomes.
In August 2017, Aleva and Nuvectra approved increasing the scope of their Development Agreement, which combines Aleva’s innovative directional lead technology with Nuvectra’s proprietary neurostimulation platform. In addition, Aleva will continue its supply and manufacturing agreement with Integer, a strategic investor in Aleva’s previous Series C Financing.
Aleva’s deep brain stimulation (DBS) devices are designed to be more precise and efficient than currently-available DBS approaches, while causing fewer side effects. Based on its proprietary technology, Aleva has developed two novel brain stimulating products with different properties. The first, directSTIM, is a complete Directional DBS System for long-term therapy in Parkinson’s disease and essential tremor; the second, spiderSTIM, is a full solution for intra-surgical placement of DBS electrodes.
The company is a spin-off from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL) Microsystems Laboratory of Prof Philippe Renaud. Aleva Neurotherapeutics has now raised US$46 million from renowned institutional investors, among them Forrestal Capital, Kinled Holding, BioMedPartners (through its BioMedInvest-II LP Fund), BB Biotech Ventures LP, Kreaxi and Initiative Capital Romandie, as well as from select private investors.
