InterVene has raised $5.9 million to advance its minimally invasive approach to chronic venous insufficiency. Its catheter-based approach creates new valves out of the patient's native vein wall tissue. If successful, this could offer an innovative curative approach to patients that are often facing long-term management of the condition.
The startup has raised the financing from 52 investors and aims to top it out at a total of $7.1 million, according to an SEC filing. This is the first infusion of cash into the startup that has been reported to the SEC.
InterVene came out of an incubator program at the Fogarty Institute for Innovation, which is part of El Camino Hospital in Mountain View, CA. LaunchCapital Ventures is among its investors.
It's largely been in stealth mode so far. The startup has disclosed that it's working on the first non-implantable, catheter-based therapy to restore valvular competency in patients with chronic venous insufficiency (CVI) in the deep veins. If untreated, this condition can lead to painful venous stasis ulcers.
The treatment is based upon an open-surgical predicate procedure, the Maleti Neovalve. With that surgical technique, a surgeon dissects the vein wall to obtain a flap that will work as a valve after sufficient fixation. This is able to be conducted because of a thickened post-thrombotic vein wall. The approach varies and can only be used after assessing the anatomical condition of the vein wall.
Typically, deep vein insufficiency treatment is palliative including compression therapy and local wound care. However, the company said patients are 80% non-compliant with these ongoing approaches.
Ablation of the veins and injectable therapy to collapse small veins are another treatment approach for small varicose veins. These can help prevent complications including bleeding and ulcers, as well as to improve the cosmetic appearance.
Far fewer than 10% of patients with the condition require surgical treatment, according to the Cleveland Clinic. The surgical options include vein ligation and stripping, in which veins are cut and tied off; microincision/ambulatory phlebectomy, in which small incisions or punctures are made over the veins and a hook is used to remove them; and bypass surgery in which a healthy vein is transplanted to reroute blood from the CVI affected vein.
The idea behind InterVene's device is to actually create new vein valves for these patients who have difficulty efficiently pumping blood out of their legs and back to their heart. The startup argues that no other approach has successfully treated deep vein valve failure.
- here is the SEC filing