Financings In Brief
This article was originally published in The Gray Sheet
Executive Summary
CVRx raises $84 mil. for hypertension trial: Private placement raises $84 million to fund completion of an ongoing 300-patient, pivotal U.S. trial of CVRx' Rheos implantable device for drug-resistant hypertension, the firm announces July 30. The funds will also go toward building a sales organization in anticipation of eventual PMA approval. The system is designed to stimulate the body's baroreflex to relax blood vessels, and incorporates a small electrical pulse generator implanted under the collar bone, two wire leads that extend to the carotid arteries and an external programmer. Two-year European data released in June show an average systolic blood pressure reduction of 35 mmHg and an average diastolic reduction of 24 mmHg with the device. The Minneapolis firm, which received a CE mark last October, also plans to evaluate Rheos for treatment of heart failure. The privately held company has raised a total of $209 million to date, with New Enterprise Associates and Johnson & Johnson Development Corp. co-leading the most recent funding