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| gammaCore device application--Courtesy of electroCore |
Investors in migraine device startup electroCore has expanded its Series A round to $50 million. The company initially secured a $40 million tranched round in March 2013. The newly expanded financing comes just as the company prepares to submit its product to the FDA.
ElectroCore hopes to submit its gammaCore to the FDA within the next few months and to get on the market in the U.S. within the next 12 to 15 months. Ultimately, it hopes to secure FDA approvals to treat both migraines and cluster headaches.
The startup recently presented data for migraine headache prevention gammaCore at the American Headache Society meeting. Patients in the headache prevention trial had a 38% to 50% reduction in migraine days per month after at least six months on therapy. The patients administered the gammaCore device on the right side of their necks, over their vagus nerve, three times daily.
As for the financing, rather than simply release the final tranche of $14 million from the $40 million round, investors opted to release that amount plus an additional $10 million to bring the total Series A to $50 million, chairman, co-founder and CEO of electroCore, J.P. Errico, said in an interview. He added that this gives electroCore a cash runway of $25 million to $35 million.
All three of the company's existing venture investors--Merck Global Healthcare Innovation Fund, and private equity groups Easton Capital and CORE Ventures II--will fund the round expansion.
Errico said the funds will go "first to nail down our primary indication, to continuing clinical work in headache and to beginning to expand out into a number of clinical indications." In addition, it will enable the company to do additional clinical testing aimed at securing reimbursement outside and within the U.S.
In the longer term, electroCore hopes to make the gammaCore device smaller and more portable, Errico said.
- here is the press release