Med-tech company Aria CV has raised a $13 million bridge round to further develop its implantable device designed to treat pulmonary hypertension, according to CEO Dan Gladney.
The funding comes from the St. Paul-based company's existing investors and will be used to re-engineer the device after a one-patient trial exposed a mechanical flaw.
Gladney said a first tranche of $8 million will be used to finish engineering and testing the redesigned device. After recieving FDA approval on the modifications, a second tranche of $5 million will go towards the implementation of a small 90-day trial.
Then in late-2023, the company will begin a Series C raise that will facilitate a six-month follow-up study.
Aria CV's device mimics the function of a healthy pulmonary artery, but does so without using any batteries, pumps or electronics.
In a short-term study conducted last year on 18 patients in Vienna, Austria, the device proved to be effective in several other heart diseases, including severe lung diseases such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).
Gladney said the company will also seek FDA approval to expand into those patient populations.
The company was founded in 2010 by John Scandurra and Karl Vollmers as a spinoff of research done at the University of Minnesota.
Pulmonary hypertension is high blood pressure in the blood vessels located in the lungs and right side of heart. If left untreated, it leads to heart failure. Currently, the only available treatment is a prescription drug regimen that can cost as much as $100,000 annually.
Gladney said in the end, the drugs don't necessarily save the patient's life anyway.
"It's not just a better mousetrap, this is breaking new ground," Gladney said. "We believe we're going to show our device implant will work at least as good as drugs, if not better."
The company has 16 employees and plans to have a total of 25 over the next year, Gladney said.
To date, Aria CV has raised around $60 million. That figure includes a $31 million Series B round that closed in 2020.
