invendo medical attracts investment of 360° Capital Partners
KISSING, GERMANY, April 7, 2009 – invendo medical, developer of an innovative sterile, single use colonoscope (invendoscope™), today announced that 360° Capital Partners joined invendo’s group of investors and expanded the recently closed round co-led by Wellington Partners and TVM Capital to € 6.5 million. The expansion of the financing round is the result of a recent technical milestone achieved ahead of schedule. The funds raised will put invendo in a strong position to complete development of the invendoscope™ and gain regulatory approval in the U.S.
The invendoscope™ combines a highly flexible endoscope and the proprietary ‘inverted sleeve’ technology that enables a highly safe and potentially painless colonoscopy, as there are only minimal forces applied against the intestinal wall while the device passes through narrow intestinal convolutions. This might heavily reduce the need to sedate patients during colonoscopy, thereby significantly decreasing the risk and increasing the efficiency of the procedure. The sedation effort (and associated risk) is seen as the key bottleneck of colonoscopy. With its novel device, Invendo addresses this key deficiency in one of the largest screening markets in oncology, with already more than 20 million colonoscopies performed every year.
Apart from comprehensively addressing this issue, invendo also aims at making the procedure hygienically safe. In contrast to the established colonoscopes in clinical use today, invendo’s patented device is for single use. Cross-infection risks like the recent hepatitis infections found at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Murfreesboro, Tennesee (USA) can be completely eliminated by the use of single-use instruments.
So far, more than 350 investigational colonoscopies have been performed with the invendoscope™ - all without sedation and in nearly all cases with no or only minimal discomfort to the patient. Invendo’s colonoscope is approved in Europe and market launches in Europe and the U.S. are expected in 2010.
“We are very proud to have attracted another experienced investor such as 360° Capital Partners,” said Berthold Hackl, CEO of invendo medical. “ In light of our highly efficient operations this round extension will give us additional strength to reach our near-term goals, such as finalization of the development of the invendoscope™ and obtaining regulatory approval for the U.S. market. Based on our recent progress, and continuing positive feedback from the community, we are very confident that the invendoscope™ will have signifciant impact on the colorectal screening market.”
Diana Saraceni, General Partner at 360° Capital Partners and a new board member of Invendo, commented: “We were quite engaged during the last year to screen new technologies improving the colonoscopy practice as we identified this huge market to be bound for a change. Efficiently-run invendo offers from our perspective the by far most convincing and comprehensive solution to the crucial shortcomings of colonoscopy. Pain and hygiene issues are still limiting acceptance by patients and are efficiency bottlenecks for the performance and more widespread use of this procedure. With its potential to run sedationless colonoscopies we are convinced that the invendoscope™ will also be warmly embraced especially by U.S. payors, as the increasing involvement of anesthesiologists is a huge cost burden on the U.S. healthcare system.”
About invendo medical - www.invendo-medical.com
Based in Kissing (near Munich), Germany, invendo medical is a leading developer of novel disposable endoscopy products in the field of gastroenterology that are hygienically safe, easy to use and potentially reduce pain compared to conventional modalities.
About 360° Capital Partners - www.360capitalpartners.com
360° Capital Partners is a Venture Capital firm, investing in Innovation at full scale, in Europe and more particularly in France and Italy.
360° Capital Partners is managed by a consolidated team which has cumulated 50+ years of Venture Capital experience in investing in, following-up and/or exiting from over 60 companies and which have more than €200 million under management, provided by top tier international investors. 360° Capital Partners leverages an important international network, it co-invested with major international Venture Capital funds in 9 countries and have proven a top quartile track record as individuals and as a team in very different economic environments.
360° Capital Partners has offices in Luxembourg, Paris and Milan and is Member of EVCA (European Private Equity and Venture Capital Association) and of AFIC (French Private Equity and Venture Capital Association).
Contact:
Timo Hercegfi, CFO
invendo medical GmbH
phone +49 8233 74498 0
timo.hercegfi@invendo-medical.de
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Caution: Investigational Device. Limited by U.S. federal law to investigational use. The invendoscopy™ System is not available for sale in the United States. Only for clinical investigational use and exhibition purposes.