Israeli medical device startup Laminate Medical Technologies has raised $12 million in a financing round from Japan's leading dialyzer manufacturer Asahi Kasei Medical, US company Tal Capital, and private investors such as Mickey Boodaei, Shai Agassi, Yuval Tal and Meir Barel. They join the company’s existing investors, who include Chinese pharma giant Haisco, Nava and Yehuda Zissapel, Zohar Gillon, Eri Steimatzky, Henit Vitos, and Ari Raved. This round brings total investment in the company to date to $24 million.
Laminate, which was founded in 2012 by CEO Tammy Gilon and Dr. Eyal Orion, has developed a vascular support device that is implanted in patients requiring dialysis.
Late last year, Laminate began clinical trials in the US, and is working with 16 leading American hospitals in preparation for obtaining FDA approval. The product developed by the company, the VasQ, already has CE approval in Europe. Through Laminate’s local operation, it is in use in dozens of hospitals in Germany (and is included in the insurance companies’ approved reimbursements). Laminate has significantly expanded its activities in the German market following the approval of additional reimbursement coverage in 260 hospitals in the country.
Laminate's product is also sold through a network of distributors in other countries, such as Italy, Sweden, and Austria. In Israel the device is in use in two hospitals, Sheba and Hadassah Ein Kerem, with impressive results.
The special device developed by Laminate is a kind of sleeve placed over the vein, which creates the optimal geometrical configuration with the artery, and reduces the tension in the vein, thus enabling appropriate blood flow during dialysis. Research carried out to date indicates significant success in all accepted parameters in the performance of the fistulas.
Gilon said, “After the success of treatments in Europe, including application of the device in hundreds of patients in Germany and other European countries, we are now preparing to enter the American market. We have completed the infrastructure for this, and are working in cooperation with leading hospitals across the USA to carry out the necessary clinical trials for FDA approval. The current round is an important expression of faith on the part of the existing investors, and a significant boost from investors with experience in a variety of fields, who understand the need for the solution and the answer that it provides for dialysis patients. Furthermore, the fact that Asahi Kasei Medical has joined us as an investor in the company gives us an important advantage for a future entry into the Japanese market.”
Asahi Kasei Medical president Takeshi Himeno said, “We are so happy to be a part of the company’s journey. I believe VasQ has a high potential to become the standard of care for vascular access surgery.”
Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on January 31, 2019
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