Circulite raises $30M in Series D

CircuLite reported this morning that the company has raised a total of $30 million in an oversubscribed Series D financing round. The round was led by new investor MacAndrews & Forbes Holdings and Forbion Capital Partners. Other existing investors included Crédit Agricole Private Equity, Saints Capital, Foundation Medical Partners and SB Life Science Ventures.

CircuLite is developing minimally invasive devices for long-term partial circulatory support. Its device platform includes the Synergy pocket micro-pump, the world's smallest implantable blood pump. CircuLite is also collaborating with the University of Maryland School of Medicine under an NIH grant to develop a Synergy-based circulatory assist device that can be used in children and infants, the company notes on its website.

Proceeds from the financing will go toward the anticipated European commercial launch of the Synergy system for patients with Class IIIb and early Class IV heart failure, pending the receipt of CE Mark approval expected in the first half of next year. In addition, the funding will support the U.S. clinical development of Synergy from a pilot IDE study through the start of a pivotal trial, and will enable CircuLite to initiate a first-in-man study in Europe with an endovascular system.

In conjunction with the financing, Eric Rose, executive VP of life sciences at MacAndrews & Forbes, and Michael Borofsky, senior VP of MacAndrews & Forbes, have joined CircuLite's board of directors.

"The cardiology and cardiac surgery communities are seeking new, minimally invasive options for treating heart failure patients, and as a result, are very interested in the Synergy system," Rose said in a release. "CircuLite's leadership in the development of innovative circulatory support systems and the clinical and commercial promise of Synergy in Europe and the U.S. all make CircuLite an attractive investment opportunity."

- see the Circulite release