A Durham startup developing a device designed to improve patient outcomes following surgery for prostate cancer has closed a $6.6 million raise
With the funds from the Series A round, Levee Medical aims to scale its infrastructure and expand its team as it continues development on its Voro Urologic Scaffold, a device intended to reduce complications associated with surgical treatment.
In a conversation with Triangle Inno in May, the company shared its plans to move the device through the regulatory process with the help of this financing. This could lead to the device reaching the market in under two years, although it must be evaluated in clinical studies before then.
"This positive momentum provides the company with a solid foundation as we move toward achieving important development and clinical milestones," said Bruce Choi, company founder and chief technical officer, in a statement.
The company is developing a bioresorbable device that's implanted in patients during a prostatectomy procedure to treat urinary incontinence. Prostate cancer is the second most common type among men, and the primary surgery for these patients is radical prostatectomy.
But there are risks with the surgery, after which many men experience urinary incontinence. This can last a few weeks or turn into a chronic condition. Current treatment options for patients who undergo this surgery are invasive, inconvenient and inadequate, the company says. Choi founded the company in 2018 to offer an alternative.
The pursuit is personal for Choi, whose father was diagnosed with prostate cancer and opted for radiation rather than surgery to avoid the risk of incontinence. Prior to founding Levee, Choi worked at Triangle startups InnerPulse and Sapheon, the latter of which was acquired by Covidien and later Medtronic (NYSE: MDT).
The company didn't announce the round's participants. However, Levee last reported raising about $3.3 million in equity from 54 investors in a July 13 securities filing.
Despite the difficult funding environment for biotechology, some Triangle startups continue to find ways to raise money.
This includes the UNC-Chapel Hill spinout GeneVentiv Therapeutics, which disclosed raising $1.4 million in equity from one investor in an Aug. 17 securities filing. GeneVentiv is a preclinical gene therapy company focused on blood diseases and disorders.
And in late June, a startup founded by Duke University plastic surgeon Dr. Howard Levinson closed a $7 million funding round to advance its commercial and product development plans. The company is focused on developing "a portfolio of novel hernia surgery products to address the unacceptably high rate of hernia occurrence and recurrence," according to a statement.
