A therapeutics company that has developed a magnetic drug-delivery therapy to treat peripheral artery disease has received a $7 million venture capital investment in a series A financing round.
Devon Park Bioventures, a Wayne, Pennsylvania venture capital firm, invests mainly in therapeutics. The investment gives the company two board seats at Vascular Magnetics, a spinoff from Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. The seats will be occupied by Dr. Christopher Moller and Dr. Marc Ostro, who serve as general partners at the firm, according to a statement from Vascular Magnetics.
The treatment is based on research by Vascular Magnetics cofounder Dr. Robert J. Levy, who holds the William J. Rashkind Endowed Chair of pediatric cardiology at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and is the director of the hospital’s cardiac research laboratory.
The treatment involves magnetically guided nanoparticles that deliver drugs to diseased blood vessels for the treatment of peripheral artery disease. The initial product Vascular Magnetics is developing uses Paclitaxel, an antirestenosis drug that is a component of drug-eluting stents used primarily to treat coronary artery disease, the company statement said.
The company says the treatment could be applied for the targeted delivery of therapeutics to other areas of the body, according to the statement.
Vascular Magnetics was started two years ago and licensed its technology from Children’s Hospital. It received seed money from the QED Proof of Concept Program at the University City Science Center in Philadelphia.
Peripheral artery disease is the narrowing of arteries in the pelvis and legs. Patients who suffer from high cholesterol, high blood pressure and diabetes, and smokers are at risk for developing the disease. It affects about 30 million in Europe and North America, and at least 10 million people with the disease reside in the United States, the statement said.
