Cardiosolutions, of Stoughton, MA, has closed a $7 million Series A financing, led by BioVentures Investors. The funding will go toward pilot human trials of the company’s minimally invasive system for repairing mitral regurgitation.
Mitral regurgitation is the most common type of heart-valve insufficiency. It is a long-term disorder in which the valve that separates the left upper chamber of the heart (atrium) from the left lower chamber (ventricle) does not close properly. Debilitating, chronic mitral regurgitation affects approximately 6% of women and 3% of men and currently requires open-heart surgery for restoration of valve function.
Cardiosolution’s Spacer-Tek Technology utilizes minimally invasive techniques similar to coronary stenting and mitral valvuloplasty. The company’s Percu-Pro System measures the pumping chambers of the heart and then delivers a proprietary Mitra-Spacer to the affected valve through a series of small catheters that are threaded into the blood vessels of the patient’s inner thigh. The percuntaneous system is designed to reduce the degree of mitral regurgitation in patients with either functional or degenerative valve disease and may allow patients to avoid open-heart surgery.
“If successful, our system can provide an interim option for patients who are too ill for open heart surgery and ultimately, the system may provide an effective preventative therapy for patients with very early stages of mitral regurgitation,” said Jon Wilson, Cardiosolutions’ COO, in a statement.
Cardiosolutions was incubated and founded in 2006 by STD Med, a Stoughton, MA-based manufacturer and developer of medical technologies.