Name: Cardiosolutions Inc.
Location: West Bridgewater, Massachusetts
Industry: Medical Devices
Products: Developing PerCu-Pro System that is an implanted device to percutaneously repair the mitral valve to prevent blood leaking into the left ventricle (also known as mitral valve regurgitation); the Dexterity Steerable Introducer is a flexible tool that allows physicians to reach difficult-to-access regions of the heart.
Money raised: $14.8 million (previous filings show that the company has raised at least $10.7 million in earlier rounds).
How it will be used: Company didn’t immediately return a call in response to that question.
A Deep-dive Into Specialty Pharma
A specialty drug is a class of prescription medications used to treat complex, chronic or rare medical conditions. Although this classification was originally intended to define the treatment of rare, also termed “orphan” diseases, affecting fewer than 200,000 people in the US, more recently, specialty drugs have emerged as the cornerstone of treatment for chronic and complex diseases such as cancer, autoimmune conditions, diabetes, hepatitis C, and HIV/AIDS.
Investors: BioVentures Investors.
Management team: Steven Tallarida, president and chairman; Jon Wilson, chief operating officer; Ross Garofalo, vice president and chief financial officer.
Market size: Several companies note that about 4 million Americans have leaky mitral heart valves.
Competitors: Edwards Lifesciences, QuantumCor, Mitralign, MiCardia among others
[Photo Credit: Flickr user amagill]
