Endoart gets $10.5M for obesity device development

Endoart SA, a Swiss company which develops medical devices for the obese, said it has raised CHF13.5 million ($10.5 million) in a series C financing from venture capital funds for product development and clinical trials.

The financing was co-led by Venture Incubator AG (Switzerland) and Renaissance PME managed by Vinci Capital (Switzerland), with the participation of EMBL Ventures (Germany) and Genevest (Switzerland). Existing investor Sofinnova Partners (France) has also participated in the round, according to a statement. Dr. Diego Braguglia from Venture Incubator will join the board of Endoart.

The company will use the money to launch its lead product, EasyBand, a remotely adjustable gastric band for severe obesity, in Europe and initiate clinical development in the U.S.

In treating obesity, if diet control and exercise are not effective, the only available options are either to undergo gastric bypass surgery or to opt for a less invasive procedure like gastric banding. With the banding procedure, an adjustable band is placed around the stomach to increase the feeling of satiety and reduce food intake. Endorat said both gastric bypass and gastric banding lead to similar results in terms of excess weight loss.

Endoart, which was founded in 1998 and based in Lausanne, Switzerland, has developed an implantable telemetrically controlled devices to provide flow control through the organs or vessels of the body.  These battery-free devices are powered, programmed and controlled remotely. Endoart said its EasyBand Telemetrically Adjustable Gastric Band offers patients “a pain-free option to enhance follow-up and compliance within a medically supervised weight loss program.”

www.endoart.com