Monday, March 21, 2011

CardioFocus claims $5M credit line with Silicon Valley Bank

By Rodney H. Brown

Marlborough medical device company CardioFocus Inc. has landed the anticipated $5 million credit facility from Silicon Valley Bank, which the company says it will use to start a U.S. trial of its Endoscopic Ablation System in heart surgery.

In February, CardioFocus CEO Stephen Sagon mentioned the planned credit line in an interview about the company’s latest venture capital round, in which it raised $13.64 million of a planned $15.64 million. 

Participating in that round were existing investors H.I.G. Ventures, KBL Ventures, Oxford Biosciences Partners, SV Life Sciences Advisors, Aurora Funds and Accuitive Medical Ventures, plus new investors Fletcher Spaght Ventures of Boston, First Alliance & Capital Invest AG of Zurich and Manatuck Hill Partners of New York.

In addition to launching a trial in the United States, CardioFocus officials said the company will use the new $5 million credit line to expand the commercialization of its products in Europe. The Endoscopic Ablation System is used to treat atrial fibrillation, a condition in which irregular electrical signals in the heart’s atrium cause rapid and uncontrolled heartbeats, potentially leading to cardiac arrest and strokes.

In June of 2008, CardioFocus raised $9 million in a Series C round that was part of a third round of venture capital the company announced in April 2006, when it raised $21.5 million.