BrightWater Medical Closes Series A Financing
Mountain View, CA, May 24, 2016 — BrightWater Medical, Inc. announced today that it has successfully completed a Series A financing round for $5.2 million. The round was led by OSF Ventures, the corporate investment arm of regional health system OSF HealthCare, and included investments from angel groups and private investors. The funding has covered initial costs for product development, intellectual property, and regulatory filings for BrightWater’s innovative ConvertX™ Nephroureteral Stent System* and will accelerate its on-going, advanced development towards US and European approvals.
The ConvertX System is designed to eliminate the need for a second invasive interventional procedure in more than 300,000 patients treated for severe ureteral obstructions annually. It consists of a single device that is intended to replace a series of two separate invasive procedures to treat severe obstructions of the ureters, which convey urine from the kidneys to the bladder. In the two traditional procedures, the interventional radiologist first implants a nephrostomy catheter to externally drain urine and in the second procedure implants a nephroureteral “NU stent” to circumvent the blockage. The ConvertX System, in contrast, is implanted only once and converts from a nephroureteral catheter to an NU stent, without the need for sedation or local anesthesia, in less than one minute.
“BrightWater and the ConvertX System embody the emerging technologies we target that have the potential to improve patient outcomes and reduce the financial burden to the health care system,” said Kevin Schoeplein, CEO of OSF HealthCare. “Our venture program is focused on companies that provide innovative solutions beneficial to our system as well as to the broader health care market.”
“We’re gratified to be partnered with a group of investors who share our mission to improve the patient experience and reduce health care costs,” explained leading interventional radiologist Bob Smouse, M.D., founder and CEO of BrightWater Medical and Associate Professor of Radiology & Surgery at the University of Illinois College of Medicine. “Being selected and vetted by a health care system with such vast clinical expertise provides us with operational, medical and industry expertise along with relationships that will be instrumental as we move towards commercialization.”
BrightWater will submit applications for the ConvertX System in the near future to the FDA for 510(k) clearance as a Class II device and for CE Marking in the European Union.
About BrightWater Medical
BrightWater Medical is a mid-stage medical device company uniquely positioned to significantly impact the treatment of ureteral blockages by interventional radiologists. The company was founded by Dr. Bob Smouse, Associate Professor of Radiology & Surgery, University of Illinois College of Medicine. Dr. Smouse is a leading interventional radiologist, clinician, academic and entrepreneur, with more than 20 years of experience in interventional radiology, endovascular surgery and clinical research.
About OSF Ventures
OSF Ventures is the corporate investment arm of OSF Healthcare System, an integrated health system owned and operated by The Sisters of the Third Order of St. Francis, based in Peoria, Illinois, that includes eleven acute care facilities. OSF Ventures partners financially and operationally in companies that improve patient outcomes and reduce the financial burden to health care systems. OSF Ventures also invests strategically through product incubation and acceleration.
* The ConvertX System is currently not approved for sale in, or outside, the United States.