Financing Will Support Clinical Development of Evasc's eClips Cerebral Aneurysm Repair System

July 7, 2017—Evasc Neurovascular Enterprises ULC, the developer of the eClips system for cerebral aneurysm repair, recently announced that it has closed Series A venture capital financing round in the amount of Can $10 million. Evasc's eClips have received approval for use in Canada under the Special Access Program in 2013 and received European CE Mark approval in 2015. Evasc is a privately held company headquartered in Vancouver, Canada.

The financing was led by Yonghua Investment Management Co., Ltd. of Shanghai, China. Several of Evasc's existing investors also participated in the financing. Together with previous seed financing rounds, a total of Can $27 million has been raised to date for the development and commercialization of the eClips system.

According to Evasc, the new funds will be used toward achieving strategic milestones related to the eClips aneurysm treatment system in three key areas:

1. Expand use cases. The company seeks to demonstrate the efficacy for flow disruption at bifurcations to eliminate the need for embolization coils and efficacy for sidewall aneurysms to broaden eClips' use to 95% of cerebral aneurysms.

2. Improve ease of use. The eClips design will be updated for simplified deployment, as well as use in smaller catheters, to accelerate accessibility and adoption by interventionalists.

3. Clinical trials and regulatory approval. The company will continue the current EESIS trial and continue preparations for a US Food and Drug Administration investigational device exemption trial to further demonstrate the superior efficacy of eClips and gain approval for sale in the United States.

The company stated that the eClips endovascular system has been in development since 2008. The device is designed to treat 95% of cerebral aneurysm cases and is currently targeted for use in challenging wide-neck bifurcations. The eClips system combines properties of stents and diverters and can be used for coil retention and to enhance flow disruption. In addition, eClips avoids entry into the aneurysm sac, while protecting and providing a platform for endothelial growth across the bifurcation neck. To date, eClips has been used to treat cerebral aneurysms in more than 40 patients in Canada and eight European countries.