8th June 2015
Calon Cardio seeks funding for development
Swansea-based medical engineering company Calon Cardio Technologies is looking to secure £1.2m to further develop its range of pumps for heart failure patients.
The company is developing a pump to be implanted directly into a failing heart to boost output, driven by an embedded electric motor and powered by a compact battery pack worn by the user.
The business is hoping to secure £1.2m through the Syndicate Room crowdfunding platform, with 11.3 per cent equity offered in return.
It has secured more than £1m of investment with 35 days of the round remaining.
Calon was founded in 2007 and is based at the Institute of Life Science at Swansea University. It is led by chief executive Simon Cartmell, a medical device entrepreneur.
Cartmell, who joined the business from lead investor Longbow Capital, said: “Currently there are about 800,000 patients a year suffering from advanced heart failure. Over the course of two years 95 per cent of those will die.
“There are existing treatments, such as heart transplants which is the gold standard but only available to about one per cent. There are established mechanical circulatory support devices but these are limited.
“We need to develop a device from the ground up that is designed for long-term use that causes significantly less blood damage and thereby reduces the number of visits by these patients back to hospitals. We also need to develop a device that is significantly less expensive.”
The company plans to use the crowdfunding to further develop its product ready for widespread commercial use.
Cartmell said: “We believe will give a significant performance advantage, cause orders of magnitude less blood damage than current devices, and lower cost of acquisition and ownership.
“The design is currently is currently undergoing feasibility studies in animals and we believe it will be ready to go into humans by the end of this year.”
If successful, the directors plans to sell the company to one of the established companies operating in the sector.
Simon Cartmell added: “We’ve been talking to about eight or nine likely candidates to get a feeling for how they’re viewing this market.
“When we have our first human data in 2017, 2018 they’ll be a significant opportunity for exit. We will have de-risked the business and got to the point where there is proof of principle in humans that the device delivers lower blood damage. At that point I think we’ll be a very attractive acquisition target.”