Galway-based medtech start-up Versono Medical has raised €6.7 million in funding to help bring its intravascular medical device to market.

The Fastwire device helps reduce the need for invasive surgical procedures to treat Critical Limb Ischemia (CLI), an advanced form of peripheral vascular disease that is thought to affect more than 230 million people worldwide. It uses ultrasonic technology to break through chronic complex blockages, using a flexible wire to carry the ultrasonic waves through calcified areas of the artery and restore blood flow to the limb.

The company, which was founded by Finbar Dolan and Hugh O’Donoghue in 2018, said the funds were raised from a mix of existing investors, including DHKN, BVP and private investors from the medical device sector, as well as State agencies such as Western Development Commission and Enterprise Ireland.

The funding round, which is Versono’s second, was oversubscribed.

Versono chairman John O’Shaughnessy said the company was “delighted and encouraged” by the level of enthusiasm and support from its investor base.

“It is truly exciting times for Versono as we move forward towards our clinical trials, and continue to build and develop the team, to advance our product development activities,” he said.

The funding will allow Versono to complete clinical studies and to qualify strategic medical device technology in 2023, for its initial clinical indication to cross arterial blockages and carry therapies to treat blockages.

CLI mostly affects the legs and feet, and can lead to calcified tissue and chronic blockages that require technically difficult procedures. The condition results in 350,000 amputations in the US and EU every year, with 37 per cent of cases requiring open surgery.

Vulnerability

Among the main risk factors for PAD are smoking, hypertension, diabetes and high cholesterol.

“Covid highlighted the extent of the vulnerability of patients with diabetes to other comorbidities. It also highlighted how healthcare systems can be overwhelmed. The fallout from a health perspective, from PAD, is enormous,” chief executive Finbar Dolan said. “The outcomes for patients eventually diagnosed with CLI is similar to many diagnosed with an aggressive cancer. Fastwire is compact and fits on a shelf. Rival devices have consoles that are much larger and require more staff with specialised training to run them. Fastwire is designed to assist physicians help more patients and enable safer, more successful and speedier, minimally invasive treatment of the most difficult lower limb lesions or blockages.”

The medtech start-up, which is based in Parkmore West in Galway, employs 22 staff in full and part-time roles.

Reporting: The Irish Times