Mercator raises $6.5M for micro-infusion tech

Mercator raised $6.5 million to market its micro-infusion catheters.--Courtesy of Mercator

California's Mercator MedSystems closed a $6.5 million Series B, money the company will use to market its duo of micro-infusion catheters, used to deliver drugs across arterial walls.

Volcano Capital, Crocker Capital and Aphelion Capital led the round, which brings Mercator's total equity financing to $18.5 million.

The company's catheters, Bullfrog and Cricket, are already CE marked and FDA-cleared, and, with the cash infusion, Mercator is set to launch the devices in the U.S., Europe and Australia. Some of the funds will go toward amassing data to expand indications for the catheters, which are already cleared to treat peripheral artery disease, the company said.

"We are thrilled to have achieved this milestone in light of the particularly harsh financing environment for young medical technology companies," Mercator CEO Thomas Loarie said in a statement. "Mercator has an exceptional technology platform that provides a new avenue for treating a number of intractable diseases, including vascular disease, cardiac repair, hypertension and cancer."

Bullfrog and Cricket are inserted into blood vessels where they inflate and deploy a tiny needle, meting out small volumes of drugs and biologics into deep-body tissues, a method the company said opens up new avenues for drug delivery. In trials, pairing the catheters with blockage-fighting estradiol led to a 75% reduction in restenosis, and the devices proved useful in reducing inflammation after angioplasty or atherectomy.

- read the announcement