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| Holaira CEO Dennis Wahr |
Minnesota startup Holaira attracted $42 million in new financing that will back a formal human clinical trial for a lung denervation treatment that addresses chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
The Minneapolis company said that Vertex Venture Holdings led the Series D round. A slew of other investors also came to the table in a wide-ranging syndicate: Windham Venture Partners, two strategic investors, and existing investors Advanced Technology Ventures, Morgenthaler Ventures, Split Rock Partners and Versant Ventures.
Med tech venture investing has dropped for some time now. In 2013, VCs spent $2.1 billion on 308 medical device investment deals, representing a 17% drop in dollars and 4% decline in deals compared to 2012, according to the most recent MoneyTree Report by PricewaterhouseCoopers and the National Venture Capital Association, based on Thomson Reuters data. And that makes the funding level Holaira achieved all the more noteworthy. It is true, it took a very large group of investors to raise the pot of cash and share the risk, but it is a noteworthy achievement and could signify an uptick in confidence in new med tech treatments.
Holaira, which launched in 2008, said the money will fund a randomized clinical trial with sham control for its catheter-based system designed to perform targeted lung denervation. The treatment is intended to help improve breathing for patients with COPD, a condition where patients deal with narrowing of the airways to the point that they face shortness of breath, chest tightness and much coughing, among other degenerative symptoms.
Holaira President and CEO Dennis Wahr said in a statement that the new financing follows success for the treatment in a number of animal studies and two human feasibility trials.
"This financing signals a strong endorsement from the investment community for our product development process and support for our upcoming clinical trials," Wahr said.
Holaira, formerly known as Innovative Pulmonary Solutions, attracted a $10 million Series C financing in February 2013. Innovative Pulmonary Solutions raised a $10.6 million Series B round in September 2012, at which point Wahr became CEO.
- read the release