NeuroTronik Raises $23.1 Million to Advance Heart Therapy

NeuroTronik Inc. of Durham has closed on $23.1 million in Series B preferred stock financing to advance its therapy for treating acute heart failure in hospitals.

The Durham-based venture capital firm Hatteras Venture Partners was a major investor, along with lead investor Boston Scientific Group and others including Synergy Life Science Partners, Lord Baltimore Investment Partners, Mountain Group Capital and Sovereign’s Capital.

NeuroTronik, the U.S. subsidiary of NeuroTronik Ltd. of Dublin, will use the funds to prepare its therapy for CE Mark approval, the regulatory permission to market the therapy in Europe.

The therapy, called CANS Therapy, increases cardiac output without an elevated heart rate. It is delivered by a novel medical system that stimulates the cardiac autonomic nervous system through a NeuroCatheter, placed temporarily in a vein just above the heart, in combination with a NeuroModulator, positioned bedside.

The therapy is intended to help physicians treat heart failure patients who come to the hospital because of their worsened symptoms. Acute heart failure (AHF) is the leading cause of older-adult hospitalizations in developed healthcare markets around the world and is a difficult clinical and large economic challenge, the company said in a news release.

“Physicians need better therapy tools to treat acute heart failure in the hospital,” said Fred McCoy, CEO and director of NeuroTronik Ltd. “With the achievement of our Series A milestones and through subsequent work, our team has demonstrated that NeuroTronik CANS Therapy holds considerable promise to be a unique and valuable tool for physicians for use in this clinical setting.”

NeuroTronik said it seeks to enhance clinical outcomes for patients, improve patient management for physicians, shorten hospital stays, and reduce the rate of return visits to the hospital following patient discharge.

“Our team has made substantial progress in the development of NeuroTronik CANS Therapy,” said Steve Masson, chief technical officer and senior vice president of research and development at NeuroTronik Inc. “The results from our clinical work thus far are highly encouraging as to safety, efficacy and ease-of-use. We are now prepared for our next steps in clinical investigation.”

NeuroTronik Inc. was founded in July 2012. Its CAN Therapy was conceived through work at Synecor LLC and Interventional Autonomics Corp., both of Chapel Hill, and early development work was done by NeuroTronik’s team in Durham.

The Company achieved its Series A preferred stock financing of $13.1 million in May 2013, led by Hatteras Venture Partners.