Business

Galway-based Ceroflo raises €6.4m to advance stroke treatment

Company has developed new stent that it plans to put through clinical trials

Chloe Brown, Ceroflo, holds up a small medical device with tweezers

Chief executive Chloe Brown with one of Ceroflo's stents. Photograph: Andrew Downes/xposure

Ciara O'Brien
Tue Feb 6 2024 - 08:08

Irish medical device company Ceroflo has raised €6.4 million to further develop a new device for the treatment and prevention of stroke.

The Galway-based company will use the money to fund the first in-human clinical trials for its SubMax stent, which treats intracranial atherosclerotic disease (ICAD), the cause of up to 50 per cent of strokes. The condition can cause the narrowing and eventual blocking of arteries in the brain with plaque, putting patients at risk of a devastating stroke.

The current treatment relies on pharmaceutical therapies to reduce the risk of stroke, which leaves patients with a 20 per cent risk. Ceroflo’s stent gently increases blood flow to the brain but also reduces risks associated with early devices, which included haemorrhage and stroke.

The clinical trial will include 30 patients.

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“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,” said chief executive Chloe Brown.

“This €6.4 million investment will enable Ceroflo to bring the SubMax Stent to 30 patients in a first in-human trial, a significant value inflection point. It will also allow us to provide a platform to support further US and Japanese regulatory studies.”

Some €5 million of the funding was raised through an Employment Investment Incentive Scheme (EIIS) round with Galway-based accounting firm DHKN, with the additional €1.4 million raised from Irish medtech entrepreneurs and global stroke experts.

A consortium led by Ceroflo secured €3.4 million from the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment’s Disruptive Technologies Innovation Fund (DTIF) last November.

Ceroflo was founded by Eamon Brady, John O’Dea, Prof Tommy Andersson, Dr Leonard Yeo and Dr Paul Bhogal. Prof Andersson said the company was approaching a critical unmet clinical need for millions of patients at risk of an acute stroke from ICAD.

“The technology and tools I have available to treat these patients today are not sufficient. They are not designed to address the specific challenges associated to plaque in the brain, therefore adding to the burden of this disease,” he said. “Paul, Leonard and I identified a unique novel technology solution and engaged a highly experienced team of industry professionals to create Ceroflo. I am excited to see the progress that this funding round will help bring to Ceroflo, and ultimately the patients in need.”

Ciara O'Brien

Ciara O'Brien

Ciara O'Brien is an Irish Times business and technology journalist

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