BIO: French device maker Eveon raising $9.1M for EU, U.S. expansion

French startup Eveon is seeking €7 million ($9.1 million) in venture funding to fuel European Union and U.S. commercial expansion for the company's drug injection/preparation devices.

Valérie Roux-Jallet, Eveon's head of business development and marketing, confirmed the news to FierceMedicalDevices April 22 during the BIO annual convention in Chicago. She told us that the company has pulled in €4.5 million ($5.8 million U.S.) so far, and is actively courting investors on both sides of the Atlantic. Eveon execs attended BIO this week, in part to connect with potential partners in both the U.S. and Europe.

Eveon employs 23 people and launched in 2009. Until now, the company has relied on investments from Eveon's founders and private investors. This is the first time it is seeking venture funding, with an eye toward tapping into a sizeable global market.

"We have a potential market of several billion euros, in areas such as oncology, immunology and auto immune diseases," Roux-Jallet told us.

Eveon is developing its business focused on customizing injection devices for complex drugs that aren't easily delivered, or, as a result, commercialized. And its devices are designed to be used by patients themselves through subcutaneous, intramuscular or intravenous injection. The idea, Roux-Jallet explained, is to offer a more viable alternative to drugs that require special mixing and administering in the doctor's office.

Recently, Eveon has moved beyond drug injection devices, inking a deal with Alaxia (also based in France) to develop a home-use device for that company's drug ALX-009, a cystic fibrosis drug with orphan designation in the U.S. and Europe. Eveon's device in this case is automated, and allows a patient to prepare the drug for inhalation.