Vascular Pathways closes $14 million Series B equity financing round

Vascular Pathways Inc., a privately held medical device company with a breakthrough product for peripheral intravenous access, today announced that the company has closed a Series B preferred equity financing round of $14 million with premier venture capital firms active in medical technology. The lead investor in the round is CHL Medical Partners and is joined by Ascension Health Ventures (AHV), MVM Life Science Partners and Arcus Ventures. In connection with the financing, Dr. Myles Greenberg of CHL, Dr. Walter Lin of AHV and Dr. Stephen Reeders of MVM have joined the Vascular Pathways board of directors.

“Vascular Pathways has developed a very novel and proprietary application of a proven technique which enables reliable, rapid and safe vascular access to patients requiring intravenous therapies. We are looking forward to working with the company to make this exciting new product widely available to patients and clinicians.”

The proceeds of the round will be used to commercialize the company's U.S. Food and Drug Administration cleared Rapid Intravascular Start (RIVS) IV catheter. More than 300 million peripheral intravenous catheters are placed in patients in the United States alone each year, and current catheters are plagued by a high rate of failed, lengthy and painful insertion attempts. Despite this decades-old problem, there has been little innovation aimed towards addressing this substantial unmet medical need. The novel but simple design of the RIVS catheter enables reproducibly rapid, easy and safe insertion of the device by all trained clinicians.

"The Series B financing is a significant milestone for Vascular Pathways, as it provides us with the resources to expand our clinical studies and complete a full commercial launch of the RIVS catheter in the United States," said Nelson K. Stacks, interim chief executive officer. "We are very fortunate to be partnering with such an outstanding and experienced group of medical device investors who see the vast potential of our technology and fully support our efforts to transform the standard of care in peripheral intravenous access."

CHL Partner Dr. Myles Greenberg added, "Vascular Pathways has developed a very novel and proprietary application of a proven technique which enables reliable, rapid and safe vascular access to patients requiring intravenous therapies. We are looking forward to working with the company to make this exciting new product widely available to patients and clinicians."