Dive Brief:
- Kardium, a Canada-based company developing a pulsed field ablation treatment for atrial fibrillation, said it raised another $250 million to support the launch of its Globe system.
- The financing follows a $104 million funding round in June 2024 that enabled Kardium to complete its pivotal trial for the device.
- The new funds will allow the medical device maker to expand its manufacturing facilities and production capacity and establish a clinical support and commercial team as it prepares to launch the system later this year.
Dive Insight:
Kardium is preparing to enter an emerging PFA field that has seen physicians switch to the new technology en masse.
Driving the rapid adoption is a reduced risk of injury with PFA compared to traditional cardiac ablation methods for treating AFib, an abnormal heart rhythm that can lead to stroke. PFA has been shown to reduce the risk of damage to nearby structures such as the esophagus or phrenic nerve during the ablation procedure.
Kardium said one-year results from its Pulsar clinical trial, presented at the Heart Rhythm Society meeting in April, showed a 78% 12-month effectiveness rate in patients with intermittent AFib and no device-related primary safety events.
The new funding will also enable Kardium to pursue regulatory approvals for the Globe system and run further clinical research for additional applications for the technology, the company said.
Kardium will be entering a market where Boston Scientific and Medtronic are enjoying strong demand for their PFA devices. Johnson & Johnson has also joined the race, and Abbott anticipates approval for a PFA system next year.
Kardium’s investors include Janus Henderson Investors, Qatar Investment Authority, MMCAP, Piper Heartland Healthcare Capital, Eventide Asset Management and Eckuity Capital.
Existing investors that participated in the new round include funds and accounts advised by T. Rowe Price and Durable Capital Partners. The financing also includes an equity investment from a strategic investor.
