Galway based medtech company WhiteSwell has raised $30 million to support the development of their technology to treat heart failure.
The Ballybrit headquartered company is developing a catheter based device to treat acute decompensated heart failure (ADHF).
ADHF can result in a build up of fluid in the body of patients suffering heart failure, causing difficulty breathing, fatigue, and swelling of the body.
This must be tackled as congestion is one pf the leading causes of ADHF patients being readmitted to hospital.
Complete decongestion is difficult to achieve with current ADHF treatments, which focus on removal of excess fluid from the vascular system.
WhiteSwell is taking a different approach, using their device to remove fluid from connective tissue all over the body that’s outside the vascular system.
Currently there is no effective treatment to directly remove excess fluid from lung and other connective tissues.
To bring this product to completion, the medtech company raised $30 million in an investment round led by RA Capital Management and an InCube Ventures syndicate
CEO Eamon Brady said “This financing is an important milestone that will enable us to tackle an enormous clinical problem that affects millions of families.”
Whiteswell was founded in 2014 by its Chief Technology Officer Yaacov Nitzan, and has its Briarhill Business Park in Ballybrit.
There are also company branches in Nitzan’s native Israel and Palo Alto, California.
“WhiteSwell’s mission is aligned with our goal of helping to advance more cost-effective and impactful healthcare outcomes, said Andrew Levin, Managing Director at RA Capital.
“We are excited about the game-changing potential of WhiteSwell’s technology to benefit patients with ADHF and reduce costs.”
WhiteSwell is currently conducting an early feasibility study at clinical sites in the U.S., Israel and Europe for their minimally invasive technique.
Andrew Farquharson, Managing Director and Co-founder of InCube Ventures said this was a disruptive breakthrough in an area of medicine that has become stagnant.
He added that they look forward to working with WhiteSwell “To deliver a compelling new therapy for ADHF, and we see the potential for it to become a blockbuster medtech product.”
