Minnesota’s Entellus Medical treats first sinusitis patient in office-based study

The development is an important milestone for the company as it endeavors to convince more insurers to cover its FinESS sinus treatment in an office setting.

MAPLE GROVE, Minnesota — Entellus Medical has enrolled and treated its first patient in an office-based study of the company’s less-invasive treatment method for chronic sinus infections.

It’s an important milestone for the company as it endeavors to convince more insurers to cover its FinESS sinus treatment in an office setting, Chief Executive Tom Ressemann said. The treatment is more widely available at hospitals and Entellus seeks to prove that it can be performed more cheaply and just as effectively in a clinical setting.

The first patient was treated at Central California Ear, Nose and Throat Clinic in Fresno in a procedure that lasted 10 minutes. Entellus plans to enroll up to 75 patients in the study by the end of 2010.

Entellus’ FinESS sinus treatment is designed to relieve the need for antibiotics or invasive surgery to treat chronic sinusitis, a condition in which the cavities around the nasal passage become inflamed and swollen, interfering with nasal drainage. The company says its treatment reduces a patient’s recovery time, because it doesn’t require removing bone or sinus tissue and can be done with minimal bleeding. The procedure is performed by inserting a balloon catheter into a patient’s nasal cavity through a tiny incision under the lip, then expanding the balloon in the passageway and draining excess mucus from the sinus.

Last month, Entellus closed a $30 million round of funding that was led by new investor Essex Woodlands Health Ventures and supported by existing investors Split Rock Partners and SV Life Sciences. The company has raised $57 million overall, Ressemann said.

Ressemann expects FinESS to receive European regulatory approval next year, which would allow Entellus to begin selling the product in the European Union.

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