Endovascular Tool Maker AngioScore Inks Distribution Deal, Closes Series C
By Lisa Lacy
August 26, 2005 - AngioScore Inc., a device start-up focused on the development of endovascular tools, said it established a distribution agreement with USCI Japan Ltd. and received $1.5 million in equity as part of a larger Series C round.
Thomas Trotter, who joined the company as chief executive earlier this month, declined to provide an exact figure for the round, saying the company took on "a couple of million."
While previous investors did not participate in the financing, Trotter would not specify who provided additional Series C capital. He said it was "a small round primarily designed for the USCI investment" and "there were some additional folks in the round," but not if these were individual or institutional investors.
According to Trotter, AngioScore's post-money valuation is about $40 million.
Prior to the investment, AngioScore was backed by $18 million from Psilos Group, California Technology Ventures LLC, InnoMed Ventures, UV Partners and Linkagene Ltd. The Alameda, Calif.-based company was founded in 2003.
Trotter said proceeds from the Series C will be used for manufacturing and marketing in order to prepare for a potential product launch next spring. AngioScore currently has 30 employees and is hiring in manufacturing, sales and marketing.
While Trotter said the company has sufficient funding for the near term, the company may raise a Series D round early next year as it completes its ramp-up. However, a future financing round may include banks or hedge funds instead of pure venture capital.
Trotter joins AngioScore as it seeks Food and Drug Administration approval for AngioSculpt, its line of balloon angioplasty catheters that are surrounded by nitinol struts for scoring arterial plaques. He expects the platform's scoring element to prove more effective than traditional angioplasty and drug-eluting stents in reaching into clogged arteries.
The company completed a coronary artery trial in the U.S. in March and has since submitted a premarket approval application to the FDA. Trotter said AngioScore is awaiting approval for a potential 2006 launch in coronary artery disease applications.
AngioScore may pursue 510(k) marketing approval for a peripheral indication that would enable the company to market AngioSculpt for an additional application without conducting further trials.
As a result of the recent distribution agreement, USCI has exclusive rights to distribute AngioSculpt in Japan for all coronary applications. USCI will be responsible for all registration activities for AngioSculpt in Japan. Trotter said he expects a launch there in late 2006 or early 2007.
The catheters have been available in Europe for a little over a year and while AngioScore has distributors in Europe and now Japan, Trotter said the company's "intention is to go direct" in the U.S.
For more information, please visit the AngioScore web site.
9/1/2005
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