Shortly after announcing positive clinical trial data from its pulsed field ablation treatment for irregular heart rhythms, Kardium has more good news to share: the company has secured $104 million in new funding.
The proceeds will finance the completion of its ongoing study, while supporting its work toward obtaining regulatory approvals for its catheter-based Globe system—as well as expanding the startup’s commercial teams to prepare for a future U.S. launch.
Once maneuvered into place near the opening to the pulmonary vein within the heart’s left atrium, the Globe expands into a three-centimeter spherical array. The device is studded with 122 electrodes that can record cardiac electrical activity and deliver single-shot, pulsed field energy or traditional radiofrequency energy to isolate the vein and its connections to atrial fibrillation.
In late-breaking data presented last month at the Heart Rhythm Society’s annual meeting, and published in the Heart Rhythm Journal, Kardium’s approach showed it was able to successfully isolate the pulmonary vein in 100% of cases, with no major procedure-related complications.
After one year, 84% of treated patients with intermittent afib and 80% of those with persistent afib reported no recurrence of their atrial arrhythmias, according to the study. At the same time, 87% of the 39 participants across both groups combined were able to forgo taking antiarrhythmic medications.
The latest funding round was led by returning backer Fidelity Management, and joined by T. Rowe Price Associates, T. Rowe Price Investment Management and Durable Capital Partners.
“Their enthusiasm and support reflect the incredible success we have achieved with the Globe System and the tremendous potential we have to dramatically improve the treatment of atrial fibrillation for millions of patients worldwide,” Kardium CEO Kevin Chaplin said in a statement.
Fidelity and T. Rowe Price previously joined the Vancouver, Canada-based company’s series D round in January 2021, which raised $115 million about six months after it claimed a CE mark approval in Europe.
Earlier this year, Kardium also reported that its Globe catheter was able to be redeployed into the right atrium after completing a pulmonary vein isolation in the left. Kardium said there it was able to successfully deliver ablations to treat cavotricuspid isthmus-dependent atrial flutter.