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| TempaSure ablation catheter--Courtesy of Advanced Cardiac Therapeutics |
Advanced Cardiac Therapeutics closed a new round of equity financing to support development of its innovative ablation catheter for atrial fibrillation.
New Enterprise Associates (NEA) led the round, and existing investor NBGI Ventures also contributed funding. While the company did not disclose a dollar amount, it had raised $7.3 million of an $8 million offering as of April 10, according to an SEC filing.
Advanced Cardiac Therapeutics also appointed new members to its Board of Directors. Duke Rohlen, CEO at Ajax Vascular, was named chairman of the board, and Justin Klein, a partner at NEA, joined the company's board. Mike Pederson, CEO of VytronUS and former VP and general manager of electrophysiology at Boston Scientific ($BSX), joined the board as an independent director.
The California-based company will use the funding to advance its TempaSure enabled irrigated radiofrequency ablation catheter to treat atrial fibrillation. According to the Heart Rhythm Society, atrial fibrillation is the most common sustained heart rhythm disorder, affecting 12.5 million people worldwide. Advanced Cardiac Therapeutics' ablation catheter uses microwave radiometry to predict volumetric tissue temperature, allowing electrophysiologists to monitor lesion formation in real time and to more accurately assess tissue temperature.
"We have closely followed the rapidly changing field of atrial fibrillation ablation and believe that Advanced Cardiac Therapeutics' proprietary TempaSure technology offers an innovative advancement in lesion creation and assessment that has the potential to improve clinical outcomes and procedure economics through enhanced accuracy and safety," Klein said in a statement.
The new funding helps the company strengthen its foothold in a competitive market. The global market for medical devices used in cardiac arrhythmia ablation, including ablation catheters, exceeded $2.6 billion in 2013, with over 300,000 patients undergoing catheter and surgical ablations for treatment of atrial fibrillation, the company said in a statement. Big names like Medtronic ($MDT) and St. Jude ($STJ) are developing their own atrial fibrillation devices to counter flat sales and sluggish growth, and Johnson & Johnson ($JNJ) won FDA approval for its Thermocool SmartTouch catheter for atrial fibrillation in February.
Although larger companies dominate the market, there's still room for growth. In addition to its TempaSure technology, Advanced Cardiac Therapeutics is developing catheters for a variety of ablation procedures, the company said in a statement.
"With promising early clinical results to support this novel technology, extensive intellectual property, and commitment to rigorous clinical science, we believe the company is well-positioned to build a valuable new franchise opportunity in electrophysiology," Rohlen said in a statement.
- read the release
- here's the SEC filing