Aqua Medical, a Santa Ana, CA-based developer of vapor-based, endoscopic ablation technology designed to treat gastrointestinal disease and prevent GI cancers, raised $8.2M in Series A-3 equity funding.
The round, led by ShangBay Capital, with participation from existing investors including Ithaka Partners LLC and ForMED Ventures, closed the company’s $15.5M Series A financing. ShangBay’s founding managing partner William Dai joined Aqua Medical’s Board of Directors.
The company intends to use the funds to advance its novel vapor-based ablation system to treat precancerous conditions and metabolic disease such as type 2 diabetes in the gastrointestinal (GI) tract.
Led by founder and Chief Medical Officer Virender K. Sharma, MD, and Lloyd Mencinger, President and CEO, Aqua Medical provides a technology platform that performs endoscopic non-surgical, outpatient ablation treatment of multiple sites throughout the gastrointestinal (GI) tract with its new Radio Frequency Vapor Ablation (RFVA) system. The system is currently being developed to treat multiple, unmet clinical needs with large market potential:
- Treatment of Barrett’s esophagus to prevent cancer with the goal of shorter treatment times and fewer procedures.
- Management of type 2 diabetes through duodenal mucosal ablation to treat insulin-resistant tissue; and
- Non-surgical treatment of precancerous pancreatic cysts with its novel ultrasound-guided needle catheter.
The RFVA system was awarded 510(k) clearance from the FDA and completed a first-in-man study for Barrett’s esophagus.
FinSMEs
02/09/2020