Galway stroke treatment medtech firm Perfuze raises €22.5m

/ 9th February 2022 /

Galway medical technology company Perfuze has raised €22.5m in funding on the back of its innovative new stroke treatment.

The Enterprise Ireland-backed company is developing a catheter-based technology for facilitating clot removal during acute ischemic stroke, the second leading global cause of death, according to the World Health Organisation, which occurs when a blood vessel in the brain is blocked by a clot, preventing blood flow.

Perfuze was founded by Wayne Allen and Liam Mullins in 2018, two years after they sold their embolisation device company Embo Medical to CR Bard for €43.5m. The pair have over 35 years combined experience in the medtech sector.

The company closed a €3m seed round in early 2019 lead by Earlybird with investing from its HBM-MedFocus Fund as well as Enterprise Ireland before winning a €2.5m Horizon 2020 Grant Award from the European Innovation Council (EIC) in June that year.

Perfuze later received Breakthrough Device Designation Status from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for its Millipede CES technology before winning a €4.4m grant from the government's Disruptive Technologies Innovation Fund in December 2020.

The company announced last year that the first five acute ischemic stroke patients had been treated with its Millipede 088 clot aspiration catheter, which was CE marked for use in the EU last February.

The new Series A funding brings the total funding raised by Perfuze to €25.5m to date, with one of Europe's largest healthcare investment firms, LSP, and Seroba Life Sciences leading the latest financing, which was also supported by new investor SV Health Investors.

Existing investors Earlybird, the HBM-MedFocus Fund, Enterprise Ireland and a syndicate of Irish business veterans and stroke physicians were also involved.

The Millipede device has been cleared for EU use and Perfuze will now seek US clearance.

Proceeds from the financing will be used to drive the next stage of a US clinical study with an eye to FDA clearance for the Millipede system, but the funding will also be used to support the development of new products and the commercialisation of the technology.

"We are delighted to have completed our Series A financing with such experienced investors and this capital facilitates our continued growth and development," Allen said.

"We believe that the Perfuze Millipede System is the next wave of thrombectomy technology in the rapidly growing stroke market and has the potential to positively impact the lives of thousands of stroke patients."

With the closing of the Series A financing round, Anne Portwich, partner at LSP, and Daniel O’Mahony, partner at Seroba Life Sciences, will join the Perfuze board of directors and Megan MacDonagh, senior associate at SV Health investors will join as a board observer.

"Perfuze has a technology with the potential to significantly improve outcomes for stroke patients," Portwich said. "We are delighted to support the company and its management team to expand as it pushes towards getting its life-saving technology to market.

O'Mahony added: "Seroba recognises that for patients who have suffered a stroke event, time is brain. Perfuze’s Millipede technology will allow for rapid and successful blood vessel recanalisation which is vital to improve the patient’s functional status and reduce mortality following a stroke event."

(Pic: Perfuze)