The pulsed field ablation developer Kardium has collected $250 million in funding to gear up for the commercial expansion of its Globe system, planned for later this year.
The Fierce 15 winner recently presented clinical results from a U.S. trial aimed at obtaining FDA approval as a treatment for atrial fibrillation, while the agency undergoes its review of the system.
In the study, the spherical, single-shot catheter took an average of 25 minutes to isolate all of the heart’s pulmonary veins, one of the main drivers behind the arrhythmia, and reported a 100% procedure success rate with zero device-related complications.
After one year, 78% of the 183 treated patients demonstrated freedom from afib. The data were presented in April at the annual meeting of the Heart Rhythm Society in San Diego.
The latest venture capital round was joined by new backers including Janus Henderson Investors, the Qatar Investment Authority, MMCAP, Piper Heartland Healthcare Capital, Eventide Asset Management and Eckuity Capital. Returning investors counted T. Rowe Price Associates and T. Rowe Price Investment Management, as well as Durable Capital Partners, plus an equity investment from what Kardium described as an unnamed strategic player.
“We’re thrilled to have secured this transformational financing with a world-class syndicate of investors,” Kardium CEO Kevin Chaplin said in a statement.
“This funding enables us to move ahead with the commercial launch of the Globe System by expanding our manufacturing capabilities and building a strong commercial team,” Chaplin said. “Everyone at Kardium is energized by the opportunity to bring the Globe System to market and help improve the lives of millions of patients worldwide suffering from atrial fibrillation.”
The Vancouver-based Kardium previously raised $104 million in a June 2024 funding round. Prior to that, it netted $115 million in January 2021.
Once the catheter reaches the interior of the heart, the Globe system expands to about three centimeters in diameter. It carries 122 individually controllable gold electrodes that enable it to record electrograms, map the heart’s pulses, measure tissue contact and ultimately deliver ablation. Its shape also allows it to rest easily within the funnel-shaped openings to the heart’s four pulmonary veins.
The device previously obtained a CE mark approval in Europe in July 2020 for the use of traditional thermal ablation. Now the company is working to bring the same approach to pulsed-field ablation, which disrupts the cellular membranes of cardiac muscle cells using tuned electric fields, in order to reduce the unwanted damage to nearby organs and nerves.