Supira Medical has raised $120 million to complete the clinical development of its temporary heart pump, designed for patients undergoing high-risk cardiac procedures or suffering from shock.
The Shifamed portfolio company’s percutaneous ventricular assist device, or pVAD, pushes the blood through a 10 French catheter-based pump, or about 3.3 millimeters in diameter, to help take the workload off of an ailing heart muscle.
The series E round follows the launch last November of its early feasibility study in the U.S., which recently completed its enrollment of 15 participants receiving high-risk percutaneous coronary interventions, or HRPCI. Its approach has also obtained a breakthrough designation from the FDA. The company said it has already treated 70 patients with its system in South American trials.
The financing was led by new backers at Novo Holdings and the Qatar Investment Authority, plus two undisclosed strategic firms. The round’s returning investors included Cormorant Asset Management, The Capital Partnership, 415 Capital, AMED Ventures, PA MedTech and Unorthodox Ventures.
“We believe there is a massive unmet need for next-generation ventricular support devices to promote myocardial recovery and improve peripheral organ perfusion in HRPCI and [cardiogenic shock] patients,” said Novo Holdings Partner Christopher Shen, who joined Supira’s board of directors.
“The Supira team has built a strong clinical foundation to further validate their advanced low-profile, high flow technology platform in two important segments of interventional heart failure, and we are pleased with their excellent progress bringing this therapy closer to market,” Shen said in a statement.
With the proceeds, the company plans to expand into a U.S. pivotal study to support its application for FDA premarket approval. Supira previously raised $40 million in a late 2023 series D round.
Supira aims to compete with Johnson & Johnson’s Abiomed division and its family of miniaturized, catheter-based heart pumps, which the conglomerate acquired for $16.6 billion in late 2022.