Bellevue, WA-based startup Innovative Pulmonary Solutions has pulled in a $10.6 million Series B and named a new CEO: medical device veteran Dennis Wahr.
First, the money: Innovative just announced the $10.6 million haul, which it closed in March, and the company will put the money toward its Targeted Lung Denervation (TLD) therapy, a catheter-based procedure designed to treat lung obstructions. Advanced Technology Ventures led the round, joined by all of innovative's Series A investors, bringing the company's total funding to $19 million.
Now the company welcomes Wahr, who previously helmed devicemaker Lutonix, before it was bought by C.R. Bard ($BCR) in 2011, and co-founded Velocimed, which was eventually snapped up by St. Jude Medical ($STJ). Innovative is thrilled to welcome a CEO with such experience, company co-founder Steve Dimmer told Xconomy, and it's a good sign for the technology that Wahr was attracted to the company.
"We looked very diligently to find the right executive to carry IPS to the next level as we continue on our development pathway," Dimmer said in a statement. "With his wealth of operations and clinical stage experience, we're excited to have Dennis at the helm and look forward to our new corporate headquarters in Minneapolis."
The company has thus far kept most of doings under wraps--hence the just-revealed $10.6 million secret--and Innovative hasn't divulged many details about its lung-treating device. However, Dimmer told Xconomy that the company is recruiting for a clinical trial, and a ClinicalTrials.gov posting reveals that Innovative is plotting a 180-day study of 12 patients.
- check out Innovative's release
- read Xconomy's story