Funding to support further development of V-Wave’s Unidirectional Interatrial Shunt for the treatment of Heart Failure.
V-Wave Ltd. announced that it has completed a Series B financing of $28M. New investors included Johnson & Johnson Innovation – JJDC Inc., TriVentures, Pura Vida Investments and BioStar Ventures. Also participating in the round are existing investors, BRM Group, Pontifax and Edwards Lifesciences. The funds will support clinical evaluation and development, addition of senior management and manufacturing scale-up of V-Wave’s proprietary minimally invasive device for use in patients with chronic symptomatic HF.
The shunt is implanted trans-venously and placed in the atrial septum where it remains. Within the shunt is a porcine tissue valve to assure only left to right shunting of blood and to reduce the probability of paradoxical embolus. The device regulates left atrial pressure (LAP) by shunting excess blood volume away from the left ventricle – the heart’s main pumping chamber. Elevated LAP is the direct cause of worsening symptoms and hospitalization in over 90% of HF patients. The Shunt is intended to relieve symptoms, improve quality of life, and to reduce the need for acute hospitalization due to worsening episodes of HF in patients who become symptomatic at minimal levels of activity. To date, more than thirty patients have been successfully treated.
HF is the end-stage of many forms of heart disease and takes a high toll in terms of premature death, deteriorating health, recurrent hospitalizations and heavy costs to healthcare systems. Although mainstay treatment with medications may be effective, each year there are more than one million hospitalizations with acutely worsening HF in the U.S. alone. Direct costs of HF exceed $30 billion, most of which goes for in-patient care. The number of patients with HF is expected to double during the next two decades as baby boomers age and develop heart disease.
Dr. Neal Eigler, MD, CEO of V-Wave said, “With the backing of our new and prior investors, we can now accelerate development and clinical evaluation of a new therapy applicable for a large segment of HF patients who need additional treatment options. Together with company President Erez Rozenfeld, we are building a team with the potential to make V-Wave’s unidirectional shunt achieve the data and milestones needed for regulatory approvals and commercialization in the U.S. and around the world. “
Dr. Frank Litvack, MD, V-Wave Chairman and Partner at Pura Vida Investments added, “The V-Wave product has the potential to radically transform the treatment for advanced, ambulatory Heart Failure. Clinical results to date, in more than 30 patients with follow-up averaging 11 months, are highly encouraging. We are delighted to be part of an investor syndicate that includes both strategic and financial investors with such deep understanding of the cardiovascular space.”
About the financial investors:
- TriVentures is a medtech and digital health focused venture capital fund based in Israel and Palo Alto with extensive experience in the cardiovascular sector.
- Launched in 2012, Pura Vida is a U.S based investment firm focused on both public and private investments across all subsectors of healthcare.
- BioStar Ventures is a US VC partnership focused on medical devices and connected health technologies in cardiovascular and orthopedic medicine.
- BRM Group and Pontifax are Israel based venture firms that have supported V-Wave in the prior A and A-1 investment rounds.