December 2005:
Imperial Innovations completes Series A Investment in Veryan Medical, a medical device spin-out Imperial Innovations, the technology commercialisation company of Imperial College London, today announces that it has completed a £500k investment in Imperial spin-out company Veryan Medical, a developer of medical devices to improve the long-term effectiveness of medical care in patients with vascular disease.
This investment was part of a £2.6 million funding led by NPI Ventures Ltd, which also includes Oxford Capital Partners Ltd, and NESTA. The agreement includes an option for a further £5.2 million of investment at the end of 2006. The investment will be used to finance the development and commercialisation of a range of innovative products to address vascular disease and significantly improve patient outcomes. The company’s patented technology reproduces the geometry naturally found in the body’s vascular system to introduce a swirling motion to blood flow. This swirling motion acts to reduce restenosis – the blocking of arteries – caused by unstable blood-flow through implantable vascular devices.
The company’s first product SwirlGraftTM which has received regulatory approval in the USA and Europe, offers a kidney dialysis access graft which has demonstrated the potential to reduce significantly the vascular disease that currently causes many existing grafts to fail prematurely and force many dialysis patients to undergo repeated corrective surgery. Clinical trials in the Netherlands for the SwirlGraftTM Vascular Access Graft have already shown the advantage of this device over conventional grafts, and further trials will begin shortly in the US. The SwirlGraftTM is also manufactured as a bypass graft, where it has the potential to offer an effective alternative to harvested veins for heart surgery.
A second product, the SwirlFlowTM Stent, is an endovascular stent which promises reduced restenosis and improved patient outcomes for both conventional stents and the new breed of drug eluting stents in this rapidly growing $5 billion market.
Chas Taylor and Paul Gilson, both of whom were founders of MedNova Ltd, a stent development company which was sold to Abbott Laboratories, have agreed to join the board. Chas Taylor will act as Chairman and Paul Gilson will lead the development of the SwirlFlowTM Stent product.
Susan Searle, CEO of Imperial Innovations said: “We have great confidence in Veryan Medical, and the value of its outstanding technology Our investment is a commitment to backing quality opportunities in our spin-out portfolio. The money raised in our recent private placement enables us to follow-up our investment in this exciting company, with its technology based on the research of Professor Colin Caro, a world expert on the relationship between flow mechanics and disease.”
Philip Birch, CEO of Veryan Medical said: “We welcome Imperial Innovations’ valuable support. This investment from Imperial Innovations and the other investors will go a long way to develop further our unique technology, build shareholder value, and benefit patients suffering from vascular disease, which remains the principal cause of morbidity and mortality in the developed world.”
