AVS Raises Financing to Advance Its Pulsatile Intravascular Lithotripsy Solutions

January 5, 2023—AVS announced that it raised $20 million in Series B financing. The early-stage medical device company is focused on treating severely calcified arterial disease.

According to AVS, the new funding will accelerate clinical trial timelines for the company’s Pulse device, a pulsatile intravascular lithotripsy (IVL) system for peripheral applications, and advance the development and preclinical work on a pulsatile IVL device for coronary cases. The Pulse system is a balloon-based platform that is designed to break up calcium with pressure waves in frequent bursts and expand calcified arteries.

The Pulse system is in development. It is not yet cleared for commercial distribution in any country and its future availability cannot be guaranteed, advised the company.

In September 2022, AVS announced enrollment and positive 30-day follow-up data of the first patients in its POWER PAD I clinical trial, a first-in-human study of the Pulse device.

Jon George, MD, an interventional cardiologist at the University of Pennsylvania Health System in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and medical advisor to AVS, assisted in trial cases in the Dominican Republic.

“Our early trial results showed that we can successfully treat patients with multiple lesions using a single device,” commented Dr. George in the AVS press release. “We saw patients report a reduction in leg pain, increase in blood flow to the leg, and improvement in their ability to walk in our initial study. This is a patient population that needs easier access to advanced therapies and this platform has the potential to provide that access.”

AVS was founded in 2018 by Hitinder Gurm, MD, interventional cardiologist and Chief Clinical Officer at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and Robert Chisena, PhD, the company’s Chief Technical Officer.

The Series B financing round was led by BioStar Capital, which was the lead investor in AVS’s Series A round.

Louis Cannon, MD, who is Founder and Senior Managing Partner of BioStar Capital, stated in the AVS press release, “We are proud to support AVS in both its successful Series A and Series B funding rounds. The preclinical results of the Pulse IVL system have shown the potential to raise the standard of care and significantly impact the well-being of patients with calcified arterial disease. We are excited to partner with AVS as it looks to future clinical trials and development.”