By John George – Senior Reporter, Philadelphia Business Journal Jun 21, 2021, 2:45pm EDT A Wayne medical device company has raised $9 million to accelerate the commercialization of its peripheral artery disease device cleared by the Food and Drug Administration last year.
Cagent Vascular received the investment from Sectoral Asset Management. Marc-Andre Marcotte, a partner and COO at the Canadian investment firm, has joined Cagent's board of directors.
Founded in 2014, Cagent specializes in developing next generation angioplasty balloons using its proprietary serration technology.
In April 2020, the FDA granted marketing clearance to the company's Serranator PTA serration balloon catheter — an angioplasty device with serrated metal strips to aid in arterial expansion — for treating below-the-knee lesions.
Cagent intends to use part of the investment proceeds to accelerate the commercialization and scaling of manufacturing for the Serranator product.
“Our below-the-knee product launch is going extremely well," said Carol A. Burns, CEO of Cagent "Early commercial adoption and clinical outcomes are confirming the positive results seen in the [clinical trials for the device]."
Burns said Sectoral's experience investing and advising device companies focused on peripheral vascular interventions will "enable a more rapid expansion of our commercial efforts."
Additional uses of proceeds include expanding the product offering to include larger sizes to treat the above-the-knee arteries.
Cagent's early backers include Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Southeastern Pennsylvania.
Burns co-founded Cagent with Dr. Peter Schneider, a vascular surgeon and the company's chief medical officer, and Robert Giasolli, the company's chief technology officer. The team previously co-founded another local medical device company, Wayne-based Intact Vascular, which was acquired last year by Royal Philips in a deal valued at $360 million.