A Medical Device Daily

Crux Biomedical (Portola, California) said it received a $250,000 direct equity investment from Hercules Technology Growth Capital (Palo Alto, California), a specialty finance company providing venture debt and equity to venture capital and private equity-backed technology and life science companies at all stages of development.

Crux, a privately held company, is developing an inferior vena cava (IVC) filter for the treatment and prevention of pulmonary embolism (PE).

“According to Crux Biomedical, approximately 600,000 patients develop a PE every year,” said Brandt Roberts of Hercules. “With no clear leader in the IVC filter market, we recognized a significant business opportunity in supporting Crux’s mission to develop a superior device to treat this prevalent condition. Roberts also emphasized the international recognition and established credibility in the medical field of Thomas Fogarty, MD, co-founder of Crux. Fogarty founded Crux in August 2004 in order to address unmet clinical needs of current IVC filters.

Currently, approved IVC filters are associated with a variety of shortcomings including difficulties in placement, inability to retrieve, migration, device fracture and penetration through the wall of the vena cava. As a result of these challenges, Fogarty’s team developed the Crux IVC filter. The company believes that its unique design promises to alleviate retrieval and placement problems, while providing filtering across the entire lumen of the vein.

“The equity from Hercules will support our pivotal U.S. clinical trials and pioneering R&D efforts,” said Mel Schatz, CEO of Crux. “We expect to achieve a leadership position in this growing field by providing the easiest, most versatile IVC filter.”

Crux has completed initial human implants outside the U.S. in 2007 and has received approval to initiate its U.S. clinical trial.