A piece of news
Swiss company Endosense, which specializes in technology development and medical devices, has announced the end of its second round of funding with 25 million euros. Edmond de Rothschild Investment Partners led the round with additional participation from Neomed, GIMV, Venture Incubator AG, Sectoral Asset Managment, Ysios Capital Partners and Initiative Capital Romandie.
This financing will be used to start European marketing of Endosense's main product, the new-generation catheter TactiCath®, and to begin the approval process in the USA.
TactiCath®, which has undergone pre-clinical and clinical testing, is the first force-sensing ablation catheter to give physicians an objective real-time measure of contact force. According to the company, this device has the potential to improve effectiveness and safety of catheter ablation treatment in cardiac arrhythmias, including atrial fibrillation (the most common, affecting more than 6 million people worldwide). The current treatment for atrial fibrillation is normally with drugs that do not address the underlying pathology and have side effects.
The cardiovascular segment of the atrial fibrillation market represents an opportunity with enormous potential. The market is currently valued at around 500 million dollars and it has grown at a rate of 50% for the past 5 years. The estimated growth over the next ten years is 10% annually, due to the aging population and safer, more effective ablation procedures.
Josep Ll. Sanfeliu, who led Ysios' investment in Endosense said they "have great expectations with this new investment, moreover, it is in line with our strategy of participating in international funding rounds, this case being one of the largest rounds in medical technology in Europe in 2009".
Photo: Josep Sanfeliu (second from the left), in conversation at the Biocat stand at BIO Atlanta 2009
