Gimv invests in medical technology company Endosense
Gimv invests CHF 7 million in the series B financing round of Swiss company Endosense. This medical technology company focuses on catheter ablation for treating cardiac arrhythmias. In 2005, the enterprise already received CHF 22.6 million in its first financing round. Gimv, Edmond de Rothschild Investment Partners, Neomed, VI Partners, Sectoral Asset Management, Ysios Capital Partners and Initiative Capital Romandie together invest over CHF 38 million. This second financing round will allow Endosense to commercialise its product TactiCath® in the European market and start clinical studies in America.
Endosense (www.endosense.com) was founded in 2003 in Geneva. It develops and commercialises TactiCath®, a unique catheter used for treating cardiac rhythm disorders. Catheter ablation is a treatment whereby a special catheter is advanced into the patient's left heart chamber via the femoral vein.
TactiCath® improves the safety and effectiveness of catheter ablation treatment. The optic fibres of the catheter measure the contact force between the catheter and the beating heart wall. This to avoid that the contact force is too slight, reducing the effectiveness of the treatment, or that the contact force is too great, risking heart wall perforation. TactiCath® received the European CE mark and will be rolled out commercially in the European Union later this year. About 5 million people in the European Union suffer from heart fluttering. Since this disorder is meanly related to old age and the population is ageing, the demand for catheter ablation is expected to increase swiftly.
Patrick Van Beneden, Executive Vice-President Life Sciences at Gimv, will become member of Endosense’s board of directors. He comments on this transaction: “Endosense has an experienced management team and an entrepreneurial CEO. Moreover, Endosense has developed a product that will greatly improve the treatment of cardiac rhythm disorders. We are convinced that TactiCath® will occupy a prominent place in this growing European market in the years to come.”
No further financial information on this transaction will be disclosed.