Axonics snags another $20M+ in oversubscribed series C

Axonics Modulation Technologies raised $20.5 million in the second closing of its series C financing, which will give the company a boost as it prepares for FDA submission.

Along with the $14.5 million Axonics bagged in May, the series C funding totals $35 million, exceeding the company’s goal of $30 million. New investors Gilde Healthcare and CICA, Inc., joined existing backers, including Cormorant Asset Management, in the financing.

Irvine, CA-based Axonics is looking to snag an FDA nod for its neuromodulation device in overactive bladder, the company said in a statement. The new funding will support a pivotal study in this indication, which should kick off at U.S. and European sites later this year.

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The Sacral Neuromodulation System is designed to treat overactive bladder and bowel dysfunction by delivering electrical pulses to the sacral nerves, located in the pelvis. It scored a CE mark last year.

The SNM system comprises a stimulator implant with a four-electrode-tined lead, a charger worn above the skin where the implant is placed, a remote control and a touchscreen tablet, which the physician uses to place the leads and to program stimulation.

“Gilde believes that the SNM market will grow to over $1 billion in revenue in the next few years and with only one player in the market today, we are confident that Axonics, given the quality of its management team and its miniaturized implantable rechargeable system, is poised to take a measurable portion of that market following FDA approval,” said Geoff Pardo, partner at Gilde Healthcare, in the statement.

Axonics is competing with Medtronic, which has its own SNM device for overactive bladder. While Medtronic’s InterStim SNM implant is FDA-approved, Axonics says its device can reduce costs to the U.S. healthcare system by $12 billion over the next 15 years. The Axonics system is rechargeable and has a life span of at least 15 years, the company says, so patients will not need to undergo surgery to get a new device implanted every 4 to 5 years.