Chloe Brown, Ceroflo. Image: © Andrew Downes/Xposure
The Irish medical device company will use the fresh funds for its first human clinical trial.
Galway-based Ceroflo, which is developing a stroke treatment in the form of a stent, has raised €6.4m in funding.
The funding round was led by Galway-based accounting firm, DHKN, which raised €5m in an employment investment incentive scheme (EIIS), while the remaining €1.4m came from a variety of medtech entrepreneurs and key opinion leaders in the area of stroke.
Ceroflo was co-founded by Eamon Brady and John O’Dea, along with a team of stroke interventionists Prof Tommy Andersson of Karolinska University Hospital in Sweden, Dr Leonard Yeo of National University of Health Singapore and Dr Paul Bhogal of Royal London Hospital.
The company’s stent aims to revolutionise the treatment of intracranial atherosclerotic disease (ICAD), a leading cause of stroke.
According to the medtech company, the device is designed to gently increase vital blood flow to the brain while reducing the risks associated with first-generation devices, including haemorrhage and stroke. The company will use the new funds to bring its stent to 30 patients in its first human clinical trial.
Last November, a consortium led by Ceroflo secured €3.4m from the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment’s Disruptive Technologies Innovation Fund (DTIF).
Chloe Brown, CEO of Ceroflo, said the device is “the next frontier” in stroke treatment and prevention. “We are approaching the problem with a unique understanding of the challenges and are designing the technology with clinicians who have more than 50 years’ collective experience treating this disease.”
Andersson, a neurosurgeon and one of the co-founders of Ceroflo, said the technology and tools he currently has at his disposal are “not sufficient” in the treatment of patients at risk of an acute stroke from ICAD.
“They are not designed to address the specific challenges associated to plaque in the brain, therefore adding to the burden of this disease. Paul, Leonard and I identified a unique novel technology solution and engaged a highly experienced team of industry professionals to create Ceroflo,” he said.
“I am excited to see the progress that this funding round will help bring to Ceroflo and ultimately the patients in need.”
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