Sequana Medical AG, a privately held medical device company focused on the development and commercialization of innovative implantable pump systems that manage excess fluid within the body, announced today that it has raised CHF 9 million ($9.3 million) in a Series C extension round. Existing investors including NeoMed Management AS, VI Partners AG, Biomed Invest AG, Capricorn Health-tech Fund, Entrepreneurs Fund and Life Science Partners participated for a total of CHF 5.3M, with a further CHF 3.7M raised from new investors including Salus Partners SA and Quest for Growth NV. Sequana Medical will use these funds to expand current business for its proven fluid management systems through new indications in heart disease and to pursue U.S. marketing approvals.
“This latest financing represents an important next step for Sequana Medical and we thank both our current investors as well as new participants, Salus Partners and Quest for Growth, for their endorsement of the Company’s potential,” said Noel L. Johnson, Ph.D., CEO of Sequana Medical. “While revenues generated from sales of Sequana Medical’s alfapump® system, indicated for patients with late-stage liver disease and certain cancers, are being reinvested into further expansion in CE-Mark territories, the funds raised from the Series C extension round will allow us to expedite planned clinical trials in the U.S. and to investigate applications for the technology in heart disease.”
Sequana Medical’s alfapump system, which received CE Mark in 2011 and is currently available in 14 countries in Europe, the Middle East and South America, is an innovative, automated, fully implantable pump system for the management of ascites (fluid build-up in the abdomen), a frequent complication of late-stage liver disease and certain cancers. The alfapump system is the first real alternative to large-volume paracentesis, a lengthy, invasive and painful procedure that can require weekly hospital visits for drainage of excess fluid. By moving ascites to the bladder as it forms, where it is passed naturally from the body, the alfapump system prevents fluid build-up and its complications, improving patient quality of life and reducing hospital visits and healthcare costs. The alfapump DirectLink Technology allows clinicians to monitor and more effectively manage patients treated by the alfapump system.
Brian B. Hashemi, Ph.D., Managing Partner at Salus Partners, noted, “Sequana Medical has successfully brought its proven fluid management system into the market and we look forward to supporting the team as it expands into the U.S. and explores new indications”.
Frank Bulens, Ph.D., of Capricorn Venture Partners, manager of the Quest for Growth fund as well as the Capricorn Health-tech Fund, added: “We are delighted to be able to make a new investment in Sequana Medical through an additional fund. Our commitment to Sequana Medical is a testimony to the maturation of the Company’s commercial activities in Europe for its first indication, in our belief of management’s ability to expand into the U.S., and of the Company’s progress with regard to identification of additional, large indications for fluid management that provide valuable patient solutions and significant health economic benefit.”
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