William Cohn (Texas Heart Institute)
TVA Medical Inc., a developer of devices in Austin, Texas to treat end-stage renal disease, secured $9.5 million in series B venture funds, the second round of financing after initial start-up. Austin-based S3 Ventures, an early-stage venture capital company, led the round with TriStar Technology Ventures and existing investor Santé Ventures.
End-stage renal disease occurs when the kidneys fail to to work properly and need help through dialysis treatments or are replaced with a kidney transplant. Most cases of end-stage renal disease result from high blood pressure or diabetes, or can progress from chronic kidney disease, where the kdneys are damaged but continue functioning. Statistics published by the United States Renal Data System indicate more than 594,000 end-stage renal disease patients received dialysis treatments or transplants in 2010.
TVA Medical’s lead product is a catheter system for creating an arteriovenous fistula, a structure that joins an artery to a vein, needed to improve the flow of blood during dialysis. Current methods require a surgical procedure to create an arteriovenous fistula, which adds risk and potential complications to the patient. The company says its catheter-based system is minimally invasive and can create an arteriovenous fistula without surgery, reducing risk to the patient and cost to the health care provider.
TVA Medical is a five year-old company founded by William Cohn, a cardiovascular surgeon and the Director of Minimally Invasive Surgical Technology at Texas Heart Institute in Houston. He also holds professorships in surgery at Baylor College of Medicine and bioengineering at University of Houston. Cohn holds 40 patents and is a serial entrepreneur, founding or co-founding several other medical device enterprises.
The company says the proceeds from the round will be devoted to continuing clinical studies of the catheter system, which are being conducted outside the U.S. Future approval by the FDA in the U.S. is also expected.
Read more:
- First Bioengineered Vein Implanted for U.S. Dialysis Patient
- Pharmas Recall Anemia Drug for Dialysis Patients
- AstraZeneca Licenses Kidney Disease Complications Treatment
- Artificial Kidney Project Lands New $750,000 Funding
- Bioengineered Kidney Scaffold Developed and Implanted
Hat tip: Fortune/Term Sheet
* * *
RSS - Posts