Aortyx brought in $16 million (€13.8 million) to support its bioresorbable aortic patch technology.
The company expects the funding to help bring the patch to first-in-human tests within two years. Funding came from Ship2B Ventures, through its BSocial Impact Fund (supported by Banco Sabadell, the EIF, and AXIS), and Clave Capital, through Clave Innohealth (supported by CDTI-Innvierte). Nara Capital, the EIC fund, CDTI Innvierte, angel investors and an unnamed top aortic device manufacturer also joined.
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Barcelona-based Aortyx developed the minimally invasive solution to treat aortic dissection with long-lasting results. It engineered a steerable catheter that snakes through the aorta and deploys a bioresorbable patch that also serves as scaffolding. This encourages new tissue regrowth. Animal and cadaver testing have already produced successful outcomes, the company says.
Current treatments for aortic dissection, such as open surgery or endovascular stents, can prove invasive and dangerous or ineffective. Alternatives include reducing blood pressure. However, Aortyx says this fails to provide a long-term solution and only delays the onset of symptom escalation.
Aortyx aims to develop a comprehensive, effective long-term solution that respects the nature of the artery.
“We are changing the paradigm of aortic dissection and other focal disease treatment, by leveraging our combined knowledge in fluid dynamics, biomechanics, vascular biology, and minimally invasive surgery,” said Jordi Martorell, CEO and co-founder of Aortyx.
