Women’s health medical device company CerviLenz has raised an additional $2 million in equity, according to a recently filed regulatory document.
The funding would seem to bring the Cleveland-area device maker’s series A round of investment to $10.35 million. Company officials in October pegged the series A at $8.35 million, but declined comment on the latest funding.
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CerviLenz makes a simple and low-cost device that measures a pregnant woman’s cervix. A short cervix is the best predictor of preterm birth risk.
The date of first sale associated with CerviLenz’s latest funding was Feb. 9. The funding was sourced from five investors, according to the document.
CerviLenz’s investors include Louisville, Kentucky-based Chrysalis Ventures, Arboretum Ventures in Ann Arbor, Michigan, plus Cleveland’s North Coast Angel Fund and JumpStart.
CerviLenz suffered a disappointment today when a vaginal gel drug that aimed to reduce the risk of premature birth in women with short cervices was rejected by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. While the rejection doesn’t directly impact CerviLenz’s business, the company had seen its device as a potential screening tool for the drug.
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“We believe the need for cervical length measurements remains unchanged as an important step in helping to solve the prematurity crisis. Our CerviLenz device was developed to help it easy for obstetricians and midwives to measure cervical length during any prenatal visit.” said Dean Koch, CerviLenz’s CEO. “Cervical length influences patient management decisions. For example, there is abundant evidence in the literature that vaginal progesterone can prevent preterm birth in women with a mid-pregnancy short cervical length. We are optimistic that Watson and the FDA will work together to determine the next steps needed to bring Watson’s formulation, Prochieve 8%, to market.”
[Photo by flickr user lentini]
