Peripheral artery disease is a frustrating condition. Current treatments, including drug-eluting stents and angioplasty, don't always stand the test of time, and arteries can become blocked again. But one Philadelphia-area company is looking to change the face of how PAD is treated--and now has some financing to back up its plans.
This week, Vascular Magnetics announced that it had raised $7 million in Series A financing to advance the development of its magnetically targeted drug delivery system to treat PAD. Devon Park Bioventures was the lone investor in the round.
To help PAD patients, the company has developed a Vascular Magnetic Intervention system, which uses magnetically guided nanoparticles to deliver drugs to diseased vessels. Vascular Magnetics' first product uses paclitaxel, which is also used in drug-eluting stents to treat coronary artery disease.
The company will use the money to complete the preclinical development of its system and eventually start a clinical trial. "We expect to begin the clinical trial in 2014," said company COO Richard Woodward.
Vascular Magnetics' technology has the potential to be used in other diseases that require targeted drug delivery, according to the company, which was spun off last year from The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.
- read Vascular Magnetics' release