PARIS – One year after inception, Lauxera Capital Partners SAS reported final closing of its Lauxera Growth I fund at nearly $300 million, making it the leading European fund devoted to financing health-tech businesses. Lauxera Capital’s objectives involve supporting fast-growing European firms and ramping their international business development.

Germany passed a law in 2019 that provides for a combined premarket review and coverage mechanism for lower-risk devices that provides a staged path for rate-setting with the help of real-world evidence (RWE). That model has caught the attention of other European Union member states, such as France, but may be useful in the U.S. as well, given the FDA’s policy moves for RWE and digital health over the past few years.

A neurostimulation device developed to treat focal epilepsy has received breakthrough device designation from the FDA. Precisis AG’s Easee [Epicranial Application of Stimulation Electrodes] minimally invasive system is designed to deliver individualized brain stimulation without neurosurgery. The electrode is placed subcutaneously on the cranium and a current is applied to the affected brain area to prevent or mitigate seizures.

PARIS – Companion Spine SAS has raised $55 million to help develop its noninvasive diagnostic and interventional implant solutions for the treatment of degenerative disc disease and lumbar spinal stenosis. This series A round was led by Viscogliosi Brothers LLC, a New York-based investment company specializing in financing disruptive technology in spine treatment.

LONDON – Oxford University spinout Oxdx Ltd. has raised £2.6 million (US$3.6 million) in pre-seed funding to advance development of a technology for directly identifying infectious pathogens without the need to purify, culture or amplify samples first. The instant testing method uses a mixture of a single universal reagent, high resolution microscopy and machine learning, to identify specific species and strains of bacteria, viruses and other pathogens within minutes.

U.K. startup Tympahealth Technologies Ltd. has received $8 million in seed financing for commercialization of its point-of-care hearing health assessment system. The Tympa system is a CE marked and FDA-registered device for high-resolution ear drum visualization, ear wax removal and hearing screening assessments. Health care entrepreneurs Maurice Ferre and Arjun Desai led the financing round.

Mindmaze SA continued to add significant funds to its coffers with $105 million as part of a series B financing round, following a $125 million debt financing in October. The new money brings total funding to more than $300 million for the company’s virtual reality-based digital neurotherapeutics platform. Its successful fundraising has pushed the company into unicorn status, making it the first Swiss firm to be valued at more than $1 billion.

Swiss spinal surgery company Neo Medical SA has closed a $20.6 million financing round led by Swisscom Ventures. The funds will be used for U.S. commercialization of the company’s Advise augmented reality (AR) platform for spinal surgery. The platform is due to launch this year and will complement Neo Medical’s existing implant and instrument solutions. “The funds will be used for recruitment of sales direct sales force, training and education activities in the U.S. as well as U.S. scientific and clinical activities,” Neo Medical CEO Vincent Lefauconnier told BioWorld. “In 2022, we will see some key scientific and clinical work being published showing the massive benefit for patient of the use of our unique combination of technologies.”

PARIS – Damae Medical SAS has just raised nearly $6 million to develop new technology to detect skin cancer noninvasively without need for a biopsy. This series A round was led by BNP Paribas Développement SA and supported by original investors Kurma Partners SA and professional private equity fund, Paris Saclay Seed Fund.