Kestra Medical Technologies has secured $196m in an oversubscribed funding round to expand its commercial footprint and advance its Wearable Cardioverter Defibrillator (WCD) technology.
The funding round was jointly led by Andera Partners, Ally Bridge Group, Longitude Capital and Omega Funds, alongside new investors, funds, and accounts advised by T. Rowe Price Investment Management, Eventide Asset Management and Gilmartin Capital.
Long-term investors Bain Capital and Endeavour Vision also made significant contributions.
As part of the financing, Kevin Reilly from Ally Bridge, Maxwell Bikoff from Longitude Capital, and Francesco Draetta from Omega Funds will be appointed to the Kestra Board of Directors.
Kestra Medical Technologies president and CEO Brian Webster said: “This oversubscribed financing is the validation of the excitement and confidence that new and existing investors have for Kestra and our ASSURE cardiac recovery system which has been prescribed to well over 10,000 patients to date.
“With this funding, our team is ready to aggressively compete and accelerate our commercialisation initiatives to transform the WCD market with our clinically proven system.”
Andera Partners partner Aneta Sottil said: “We are impressed with the clinical performance of the Kestra technology, their patient-focused approach and moreover, the exciting opportunity to penetrate this large and growing patient population.
“We are keen to partner with Kestra and their passionate team as they work to disrupt the existing $1 billion WCD market.”
The wearable medical device intends to use the funds to advance the ASSURE WCD system, a next-generation cardiac monitoring and defibrillation therapy.
ASSURE offers autonomous detection and defibrillation for ventricular arrhythmias, along with other clinically significant arrhythmias which may require clinical intervention.
The system is backed by reimbursement and broad insurance coverage in the US.
It features four channels of ECG, an advanced algorithm, and adaptive patient intelligence, the ASSURE WCD reduces noise and ensures clear data and insights.
Kestra said that ASSURE is the only WCD system that can send an alert to an Emergency Medical Services (EMS) operator after a defibrillation shock.
The company’s complete Cardiac Recovery System comprises the ASSURE WCD and ASSURE Wearable ECG, which has recently been approved by the US FDA.
The system also includes the ASSURE patient app, ASSURE Assist Services and the Kestra CareStation remote patient data platform.
Bain Capital partner Chris Gordon said: “We are proud to continue our long-time support of Kestra and its people-driven mission to protect patients with technologies that are intuitive, intelligent, and mobile.
“We welcome the support of the new investors and look forward to continuing to back Brian and his strong team as they continue to deliver lifesaving products and services that make a difference in patients’ lives.”
