Australia-based spinal cord stimulation device provider Saluda Medical attracted $75m in equity funding on Friday from medical device manufacturer Boston Scientific, healthcare-focused investment group Redmile and an undisclosed institutional investor.
Founded in 2013, Saluda Medical develops medical devices driven by neuromodulation techniques which stimulate the human nervous system for therapeutic or diagnostic purposes.
The company’s first product, Evoke, is a closed-loop stimulation system for the spinal cord that helps clinicians determine the cord’s responsiveness by administering electric stimuli which also promote long-term healing in the patient.
The spinal cord consists of nerves that deliver instructions to muscles from the brain, so rigidity in the area – known as spinal cord compression – can lead to symptoms in muscles across the body, including numbness, pain and fragility.
Evoke, which has been tested in clinical trials in backpain, automatically adapts the electric pulse it administers to the spinal cord to reflect the patient’s specific neural characteristics.
The capital will fund Evoke through the final phases of its development, as Saluda prepares to commercialise the device in the US and other markets.
Piper Jaffray was Saluda’s financial adviser for the equity round, which came the day after Saluda announced a four-year loan arrangement of undisclosed size with medical equipment maker Medtronic to support Evoke’s development.
Saluda Medical has now received at least $125m in funding, including $40m in a mid-2017 round led by Action Potential Venture Capital, a bioelectronic medicine-focused vehicle for pharmaceutical firm GlaxoSmithKline that invested alongside Medtronic.
Healthcare-focused investment firm Biosciences Managers had led Saluda’s $10m series B round two years previously with participation from undisclosed additional investors. Saluda has seemingly not publicly revealed details about other funding rounds.