A Medical Device Daily

NanoString Technologies (Seattle), a privately held life sciences company advancing best-in-class technologies for expression profiling, reported that it has closed a $30 million Series C equity financing. The company said this financing, structured in two tranches, will allow it to accelerate the commercialization of the nCounter Analysis System in the research tools and diagnostics arenas.

The round was led by Clarus Ventures, a global life sciences venture capital firm, and was joined by existing investors OVP Venture Partners and Draper Fisher Jurvetson. In connection with the financing, Nicholas Galakatos, co-founder and managing director of Clarus Ventures, will join the NanoString board.

"Our products have received tremendous interest from commercial and clinical researchers in a relatively short amount of time. The new funds will fuel our growth in manufacturing and product development and enhance our commercialization capabilities," said Wayne Burns, CFO and acting CEO of NanoString.

Embrella Cardiovascular (Malvern, Pennsylvania) reported that it closed its Series B financing round, raising about $5.1 million in new capital. BioStar Ventures led the round, along with existing investor, the MedFocus Fund, and several existing and new private investors. In addition, the Series B round attracted a new, initial investment by Edwards Lifesciences (Irvine, California).

Embrella is developing an embolic protection device called the Embrella Embolic Deflector. The device is designed to decrease dangerous debris or emboli from entering the brain by deflecting the emboli away from the carotid arteries. These dangerous emboli can cause neurological complications during cardiovascular procedures.

"These proceeds will fund clinical trials outside the U.S., which we expect to initiate later this year; as well as to develop the appropriate and necessary infrastructure to bring the Embrella Embolic Deflector to fruition," said Chairman Jeffrey O'Donnell.

The Embrella Embolic Deflector would serve as an adjunctive device to be used in procedures such as the less invasive Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implantation (TAVI) procedure for the treatment of severe aortic stenosis. Frequently the aorta contains atheromatous plaque and the valve can be densely calcified. During this procedure, wires, catheters and balloons pass over the aortic arch to deliver the new aortic valve prosthesis. It is during these steps that debris and calcific particles can be dislodged and embolized to the brain. "We believe the technology will serve an unmet clinical need and will help to make TAVI procedures safer for patients," said Carol Burns, VP Product & Business Development.

In other financing news, Savara Pharmaceuticals (Austin, Texas), an inhalation drug delivery company, reported that it has closed its Series A financing round. Financial details of the transaction were not disclosed.

The majority of Savara's existing investors participated in the round, which was made up of biotechnology industry veterans and successful business leaders. Savara said it will utilize the funds to continue development of its NanoCluster technology in the dry powder therapeutics market and expand into nebulizer and propellant markets.

"I'm excited that we exceeded our entire Series A fundraising goal in just a few weeks," said Rob Neville, Savara's executive chairman. "The funds from our seed round allowed us to validate our technology across multiple drug classes, which led to several partnerships with large pharmaceutical companies."

The key parameter to improving the efficacy of pulmonary products depends on being able to dial-in particles sizes in the range of one to three microns. The Savara NanoCluster technology has this capability without the need for novel excipients and benefits from a highly efficient manufacturing process, the company says. These NanoClusters are modeled after naturally occurring aerosols, which are highly effective in reaching the peripheral lung.