News

TOLEDO, Ohio, Aug. 15, 2017 /PRNewswire/ — VentureMed Group®, Inc., (“VMG” or the “Company”) a medical device company developing and commercializing next-generation endovascular products to treat patients suffering from peripheral artery disease (PAD), today announced it had raised $15 million in new equity financing. The Series B Round was led by new investor Endeavour Vision, a technology and life science investor based in Geneva, Switzerland, and also included new investor RiverVest Venture Partners, a St. Louis, MO, based venture capital firm dedicated to life science and healthcare investing.

“We are very pleased to have Endeavour Vision’s and RiverVest Venture Partners’ support to help build our team and expand our product line, enabling us to help physicians provide expanded treatment options for their PAD patients,” said John Pigott, MD, founder and Chief Science Officer, at VMG. “For over 20 years, I’ve been treating patients suffering from vascular disease, focusing on improving clinical outcomes and reducing treatment times, while remaining cognizant of procedural costs,” Pigott explained. “As a vascular surgeon, I can visualize how disease in the artery responds to various devices that have come to market over the decades. I invented the FLEX Scoring Catheter® to provide interventionalists with a cost-effective solution for treating patients with challenging PAD. Physicians are not only seeing excellent outcomes in PAD patients treated with FLEX Scoring Catheters, but are equally excited about its use in complex dialysis interventions.” Arteriovenous fistulas (AVF) and grafts (AVG) are created to provide access for hemodialysis patients suffering from end-stage renal disease.

The proceeds from the equity financing will be used to fund VentureMed’s strategic clinical plan (which includes current and future trials in the US and Europe) and key operational and research and development programs; expand the company’s worldwide commercial team; and support regulatory and reimbursement initiatives for the Company’s lead technology platform, FLEX, an innovative, cost-effective device for the endovascular treatment of patients suffering from PAD and arterio-venous access complications.

“The investment from these highly successful, international investment firms represents a significant endorsement of our technology and our team,” said VentureMed Group’s Chief Executive Officer, Gary L. Smith. “In this ever-changing healthcare environment, innovative medical device companies must continue to deliver new technology platforms and treatment options that improve outcomes and reduce costs,” Smith continued.

The use of drug-eluting balloons concomitantly with vessel preparation devices to treat stenosis of the lower extremities can improve outcomes, according to Ian Cawich, MD, of Arkansas Heart Hospital, in Little Rock, AR, who was one of the first physicians in the United States to use the FLEX Scoring Catheter. “The FLEX Scoring Catheter is an innovative and promising technology for patients suffering from vascular disease. My initial experience has been all positive: it is safe, quick, easy to use vessel prep device that could potentially reduce overall procedure time and cost,” said Dr. Cawich.

“Endeavour Vision’s current fund is dedicated to transformational technologies in medical devices and digital health,” said Alexander Schmitz, Senior Investment Director at Endeavour Vision. “We are excited to support a company with the potential to make significant improvements in the lives of millions of men and women globally who suffer from peripheral vascular diseases and others suffering from the challenging management of renal dialysis access.”
“RiverVest Venture Partners, is pleased to be participating in this financing,” said Karen Spilizewski, Vice President at RiverVest Venture Partners. “VentureMed’s innovative technology platform, partnered with its talented team, positions it to improve the treatment of PAD and AV access, and to significantly benefit physicians and their patients worldwide.”

About FLEX Scoring Catheters
FLEX incorporates a proprietary technology that allows for Dynamic Scoring® within femoral-popliteal arteries or within native or synthetic arteriovenous fistula or grafts. Its unique design allows the operator to easily prepare a diseased vessel in a single insertion without the need for multiple balloon inflations or device exchanges. FLEX is an ideal device to use prior to adjunctive therapies (angioplasty, drug coated balloon, bare metal stenting and drug eluting stent) in the treatment of peripheral artery disease.

About VentureMed Group
VentureMed Group, Inc. is a commercial-stage medical device company that develops and markets cost-effective interventional devices to improve the treatment of peripheral artery disease. The Company’s innovative product platforms are designed to improve clinical outcomes and reduce procedural costs.
VMG’s lead platform is the FLEX Scoring Catheter. FLEX has the ability to treat the complete range of peripheral vessel diameters and lesion lengths and has been described as a safe, efficient and intuitive tool for the treatment of PAD by interventionalists. FLEX is FDA approved and has CE Mark approval and is available for sale and distribution in the United States and Europe.

VentureMed is located in Toledo, Ohio, USA. For more information, please visit the company’s website at www.venturemedgroup.com.
Venture Med Group®, FLEX® and FLEX Scoring Catheter® are registered trademarks of VentureMed Group. FLEX AV Catheter® is trademarked by VentureMed Group.