L to R: Justin Lynch, partner, Fountain Healthcare Partners, Eamon Brady, chief executive officer, Neuravi and John O’Shaughnessy, chairman, Neuravi
Neuravi has completed a Series B financing of €19m (US$21m) to advance the company’s minimally invasive thrombectomy device for acute ischaemic stroke, the EmboTrap revascularization device. The round was led by European private equity firm Life Sciences Partners (LSP), with participation from returning Series A investors Fountain Healthcare Partners, Delta Partners and the Western Development Commission.
The funding will support European commercialisation of the EmboTrap device, as well as Neuravi’s clinical trial, ARISE II, which will begin enrolling patients this year at select centres in the USA and Europe.
Ischaemic strokes, caused by blockages in vessels supplying blood to the brain, account for 87% of all strokes and are a leading cause of death and disability. Approximately one million Europeans and 700,000 Americans suffer ischaemic strokes each year.
Following a stroke, rapid intervention is critical. Minimally invasive thrombectomy devices, also known as stent retrievers, are used by physicians in an acute intervention to remove a clot and reopen cerebral blockages to immediately restore blood flow to the brain. A series of recent highly positive multinational clinical trials have demonstrated that patients treated with thrombectomy have better outcomes than those treated with medical therapy alone.
Based on a foundation of clot mechanics research, Neuravi’s technology is designed to capture and remove clots while reducing the opportunity for embolisation of clot particles that could potentially cause a new stroke in another territory, contributing to poor patient outcomes. In a case series presented at the European Stroke Organisation Congress (17–19 April, Glasgow, UK) evaluating use of the EmboTrap device in 42 stroke patients at two European centres, treatment with the device restored significant blood flow in 86% of patients, with the majority of patients recovering to be able to function independently.
“This is an exciting time to be backing a company dedicated to improving stroke therapy, given the recent series of positive trial results that have decisively demonstrated the value of endovascular treatment for large vessel occlusions. These are the most devastating types of stroke, creating a tremendous social and economic burden for patients, and improved treatment has the potential to both save lives and improve quality of life,” said Anne Portwich, partner, LSP. “The Neuravi team has impressed us tremendously with its thorough approach, from the clot research that informs the company’s technology development, to collaborations with leading experts in the treatment of stroke.”
As part of the financing, Anne Portwich and René Kuijten, partner, LSP, will join Neuravi’s board of directors.
“We look forward to working closely with the clinical community as we make the EmboTrap commercially available in Europe, and gather more data through ARISE II to support the device’s use clinically in the USA,” said Eamon Brady, Neuravi’s chief executive officer.
