Ysios invests $6 millions in US company CVRx
This capital increase will accelerate marketing of a device for hypertension and heart failure in Europe.
By Biocat
Ysios Capital has just closed its tenth investment. This venture capital firm has invested $6 millions (€4.4 millions) in US company CVRx specializing in cardiovascular medical technology. Ysios is the only European investor in this round of funding led by New Enterprise Associates and Johnson & Johnson Development Corporation, which totaled $42 millions (€30 millions). Josep Sanfeliu, one of the partners at Ysios, will be on the Board of Directors.
CVRx’s main product is Barostim neo, a device implanted under the skin to treat hypertension and heart failure without drugs. These two diseases affect a significant portion of the population in industrialized countries, especially among the elderly. In Europe and the United States, some 230 million people suffer from hypertension and heart failure.
Barostim is already being marketed in Germany to treat resistant hypertension and the next step for CVRx is to obtain European approval for heart failure. Afterwards they will move into the US market.
Ysios Capital has collaborated with Dr. Josep Brugada of Hospital Clínic, among other international specialists, to assess the technical and clinical aspects of this device.
Founded in 2008 and based in Barcelona, Ysios has an investment portfolio featuring AM Pharma (Netherlands), Cardoz (Sweden), TiGenix (Belgium), MedLumics (Spain) and Catalan companies Inbiomotion and STAT-Diagnostica. In September 2013, the fund sold Endosense to US company St. Jude Medical for €249.7 millions.