Dive Brief:
- Steven Mickelsen’s Field Medical has raised another $35 million in funding to advance preparations for its pivotal trial studying pulsed field ablation to treat ventricular tachycardia.
- The Series B financing round was led by BioStar Capital and Cue Growth and saw participation from existing strategic investors.
- Mickelsen is the electrophysiologist who invented the Farapulse PFA system that is helping change how atrial fibrillation is treated and driving fast growth for Boston Scientific. After Boston Scientific acquired Farapulse, Mickelsen founded Field Medical in 2022 to focus on developing a PFA approach for ventricular tachycardia, an irregular heart rhythm that can lead to sudden death.
Dive Insight:
Physicians have embraced PFA to treat AFib, a common arrhythmia that increases stroke risk, since Medtronic and Boston Scientific brought the first systems to market in the U.S. in late 2023 and early 2024. The technology offers a potentially safer way to ablate the cardiac tissue causing the abnormal heart rhythm by reducing the risk of harm to the esophagus and can be a faster procedure than traditional ablation methods.
Johnson & Johnson also sells a PFA device, while Abbott expects the Food and Drug Administration to approve its Volt system in 2026.
Based in Cardiff-by-the-Sea, California, Field Medical is aiming to expand treatment options for patients who have ventricular tachycardia by designing a PFA system that targets the condition.
„Ventricular tachycardia is among the most underpenetrated segments in electrophysiology, yet physicians still lack the tools they need,“ Mickelsen, who is Field Medical’s CEO, said in a statement. „What is exciting is how VT is mirroring the early days of the [AFib] market.”
Existing technology does not meet the current clinical demand, according to the company.
Field Medical’s technology “is doing what few companies dare to do – tackling one of the most difficult and under-addressed challenges in cardiology with real innovation and urgency,“ said Louis Cannon, a physician and the founder and senior managing director of BioStar Capital. „Their physician-led team brings the right insight, and their FieldForce platform brings the right tools. We’re proud to support this next chapter as they move closer to transforming VT care.”
The company’s latest financing follows a $40 million round in April, bringing total funds raised to date to $75 million. The new funds will support the start of the pivotal Veritas trial, further the development of the FieldForce system and expand the company’s clinical and regulatory capabilities.
