A stealthy Silicon Valley medical device firm has raised $3.8 million and may be aiming to do for neurovascular diseases what one of its founders helped do for high blood pressure.
Medina Medical's Nov. 27 filing with the SEC names investor Annette Franqui and Sand Hill Angels member Bakir Begovic. Based in Menlo Park, CA, Medina is developing "minimally invasive devices for the treatment of brain aneurysms and stroke," according to Medina Medical's website, which doesn't offer much else.
But there are some clues in the company's roster of co-founders. Medina's CTO is Maria Aboytes, who had a late R&D role at renal denervation pioneer Ardian Inc. In 2010, Ardian sold to Medtronic ($MDT) for $800 million on the strength of its flagship product, Symplicity, a catheter that uses radiofrequency energy to offer a minimally invasive, low-risk treatment of resistant hypertension.
CEO Kimberly Vogel is a bit more of a cypher. She was an early employee of Google ($GOOG), working in public relations. According to her LinkedIn profile, she was employee No. 28 at the Internet search giant. In between Google and Medina, she was a wealth advisor--first for Morgan Stanley, then for a family office.
In 2012, Vogel told MedCity News Medina is developing an implantable device--not a stent--to treat brain aneurysms without using neuromodulation. She also named Covidien ($COV) and Thomas Fogarty, inventor of the balloon catheter, as early investors, according to MedCity. At the time, Medina was reportedly working on a first clinical trial in humans, toward CE mark approval in Europe.
- here's the SEC filing
- and here's Kimberly Vogel's profile on Girlgeeks