Ivantis, a US developer of stents used to lower eye pressure for glaucoma patients, has reported that it has raised $46.5m in a series B round of funding of which existing corporate venturing unit MemorialCare Innovation Fund, Ascension Ventures and EDBI, has participated. The capital will be allocated to ongoing costs related to its ongoing clinical trials. The company has raised over $63.3m to date.
According to the company, the final close of its round came from Vertex Ventures and GBS Ventures. The Series B funding’s other investors included Ascension Ventures, Vertex Ventures, GBS Ventures, EDBI, MemorialCare Innovation Fund, New Enterprise Associates, and Delphi Ventures.
Many people are getting cataract surgery in the markets, such as the US, with more patients as they grow older also looking for relief from glaucoma.
Ivantis has developed a microstent (Hydrus™), which is the world’s first “intracanalicular scaffold” for the treatment of primary open angle glaucoma (POAG). The benefit of the Hydrus procedure is designed to be less invasive than traditional glaucoma surgery and can be performed during cataract surgery using the same microsurgical incisions. Roughly the size of an eyelash, the Hydrus Microstent is made from a super-elastic, biocompatible alloy (nitinol®), which is a well-proven biomaterial used in over 1 million implants in a variety of medical devices to date, according to the company.
In patients with POAG, eye pressure increases because the eye’s fluid channels become blocked. The tiny Hydrus scaffold is designed to be inserted into the primary fluid canal (called Schlemm’s canal) of the eye and open the channel to allow blocked fluid to flow more freely, which then reduces high IOP.
In January 2013 the company reported that it had made a first close on its series B round of funding worth $27m. The first close of the series B round was led by Ascension Health Ventures (AHV). The round also included returning series A investors New Enterprise Associates (NEA) and Delphi Ventures, as well as additional new investors, including MemorialCare Innovation Fund. The funds have been used to support four randomised, prospective, controlled multi-center trials at various stages around the world, including the ongoing United States trial.
In 2011 Ivantis raised $17m from New Enterprise Associates and Delphi Ventures.