ElectroCore, a US-based medical device developer backed by pharmaceutical firm Merck, has raised $36m in a funding round with a $65m target, according to a regulatory filing.
Founded in 2005, ElectroCore is working on therapies that use non-invasive stimulation of the vagus nerve – the body’s longest cranial nerve, which passes through the neck and thorax to the abdomen. The approach has therapeutic applications in neurological, inflammatory and metabolic conditions.
The company is initially focusing on migraines and cluster headaches, and associated disorders such as psychiatric, sleep, pain and gastric motility issues. Its first device, GammaCore, was released in the US in April this year, having already been approved for use in the European Union.
Merck took part in ElectroCore’s $50m series A round in 2014 through its Merck Global Healthcare Innovation Fund, investing alongside Easton Capital and Core Ventures. Unnamed investors had supplied $500,000 in seed capital for the company in 2012.
The document follows ElectroCore’s announcement last month that Nick Colucci, chief executive of healthcare communications company Publicis Health, had joined the startup’s board of directors. Colucci is named in the filing, though further information was not provided.