A subsidiary of Singapore’s national wealth fund has invested in dialysis startup Advent Access. The pre-series A round equips Advent to submit a CE mark filing for a vascular access device intended to enable simple home dialysis.
Advent, a spinoff from Singapore’s science agency A*STAR, is focused on av-Guardian, a medical device intended to make access to the vascular systems of dialysis patients more reliable and less painful.
The product is a small titanium device that is implanted beneath the skin to provide access to an arteriovenous fistula. With the device embedded, nurses can access the vascular system using a blunt needle through the same entry point each time. Advent thinks this will reduce the chances of complications arising from misplaced needles while making the procedure more pleasant for patients.
If Advent succeeds in making vascular access trivial, it could also free more patients to undergo their lengthy dialysis sessions at home without the support of a healthcare professional.
Realization of that lofty objective is still some way off. The near-term goal is to build on the lessons learned in a local clinical trial, data from which are due early in 2018, by completing an international study. Enrollment in the global trial is underway.
Accuron MedTech, part of Temasek subsidiary Accuron Technologies, has positioned Advent to bring av-Guardian through the trial by leading a $1.9 million investment in the startup. Advent expects the investment to support its ambition to file for CE mark registration in 18 months.
While Advent awarded the investment the niche bragging right of “largest pre-Series A financing round by a medtech startup in Southeast Asia,” the sum is relatively small. The involvement of Accuron means Advent has a well-financed backer should its need for money increase, though.
Accuron is wholly owned by $203 billion, Singapore state-owned investment group Temasek and some of its previous nine investments have involved larger sums than that received by Advent.