Galway medtech AuriGen raises €3m for heart disease tech | ThinkBusiness
Summary
The minimally invasive implant aims to revolutionise the management ofms of chronic heart disease patients.Despite much focus and advancement on the treatment of chronic heart disease, it still kills more Europeans than cancer, crippling healthcare systems and costing the EU over 210bn every yearThe company launched a crowdfunding campaign with Spark Crowdfunding to help fund the clinical trials of its revolutionary heart implant. It raised 1.75m from institutional investors in Ireland, and sought an additional 750,000 through crowdfunding to facilitate clinical trials starting in 2023.The Spark Crowdfunding campaign has already raised 2.98m from 232 investors, smashing its initial target.AuriGen Medical co-founder and CEO Dr John Thompson said current approaches to treat heart failure and atrial fibrillation two of the worlds most common chronic cardiovascular diseases require multiple expensive devices and procedures.Despite much focus and advancement on the treatment of chronic heart disease, it still kills more Europeans than cancer, crippling healthcare systems and costing the EU over 210bn every year. Atrial fibrillation is a quivering or irregular heartbeat (an arrhythmia) that can lead to blood clots, stroke & heart failure.He said the elevated stroke risk can be managed by closing the left atrial appendage, a small pouch within the heart. The devices also offer no treatment for arrhythmia or heart failure, and no ability to monitor patients at home post procedure.To address these challenges, AuriGen Medical has created the first device to integrate stroke prevention, heart failure monitoring and arrhythmia management in a single 30-minute day case procedure.AuriGens devices will include smart sensors which detect changes in the heart in real-time, resulting in earlier and more accurate data. This patient data is transferred live from their handheld receiver at home to the secure cloud which is instantly accessible by their doctor, helping them to intervene faster, preventing hospitalisations, while improving quality and length of life.AuriGen aims to provide governments and private healthcare insurers with an alternative to the existing expensive multi-procedure therapies which are currently required to treat challenging heart failure/arrhythmia patients.Spark Crowdfunding CEO Chris Burge said AuriGens cardiac implant devices address the significant unmet medical needs of patients with heart failure and atrial fibrillation.The AuriGen platform of technologies will elevate the current standard of care to new levels of safety, efficacy and cost effectiveness, and we are thrilled to be able to offer private investors and individuals the opportunity to be part of an exciting company.