Financings In Brief
This article was originally published in The Gray Sheet
Executive Summary
Vital Therapies funds artificial liver development: Start-up raises $28.1 million in a "Series C" private placement to support further development of its ELAD extracorporeal liver assist device, the firm announces Sept. 12. The San Diego company is conducting a pivotal trial of the human cell-based artificial liver in China to support a planned near-term marketing application in that country, "and to provide more safety data for U.S. registration," according to the company. The firm anticipates Chinese approval this year and a U.S. market go-ahead by the end of the decade. ELAD, which is regulated as a biologic by FDA with input from the agency's device center, is intended as a bridge-to-transplant or for potential liver recovery for patients with severe liver failure. Vital Therapies acquired the bedside-use technology in 2003 from VitaGen (1"The Gray Sheet" Oct. 6, 2003, p. 26). The recent financing round was led by Versant Ventures