Painova Medical Secures Tens of Millions in Series A Funding to Drive Global Innovation in Neurosurgical Devices

Recently, PrimaNova, a developer of high-performance medical devices for neurosurgery, announced the completion of its tens-of-millions-yuan Series A financing round, with participation from the Shanghai Biopharmaceutical Innovation and Translation Fund. Other investors included Langyao Capital, several industry family offices, and leading figures such as Dr. Fred Moll, hailed as the “father of surgical robots.”

PrimaNova has established a comprehensive product pipeline and is fully advancing the development of products such as neuromonitoring systems, cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) management solutions, and neurosurgical robotic instruments. These efforts aim to effectively reduce patient disability and mortality rates, improve therapeutic outcomes and quality of care, increase the adoption of neurosurgical treatment modalities, and address critical clinical pain points in the field of neurosurgery.Starting in 2024, the products will successively receive approval and registration for market launch from the U.S. FDA and the National Medical Products Administration (NMPA).The proceeds from this round of financing will continue to be allocated to technological and clinical investments, accelerating the development of multiple high-performance medical devices in the field of neurosurgery by PrimaNova, and propelling the company into the commercialization phase.

Sencere®, the world’s first wireless intracranial multi-parameter monitoring system independently developed by PrimaNova, has completed clinical trials, demonstrating its safety and efficacy, and has received high acclaim from various clinical centers. Clinicians have expressed thatThe wireless design of Sencere® eliminates the many drawbacks associated with the traditional wired connection between dilators and monitors, offering significant convenience for clinical procedures and patients.It simplifies postoperative care, reduces the risk of bougie displacement and accidental removal, and demonstrates superior electromagnetic interference resistance in complex operating room environments.

Sencere® Product Form

Sencere® integrates multi-parameter monitoring into a single platform, enabling clinicians to visually track real-time dynamic changes in multiple intracranial parameters and efficiently manage patients' intracranial metrics. It achieves breakthrough real-time continuous monitoring of ICP, ICT, IBP, CPP, and other parameters, providing more precise and reliable references for clinical decision-making.PrimaNova is submitting applications for domestic Class III medical device registration in China and U.S. FDA 510(k) clearance.

Prattipati Laxminarain, former Global President of Codman/Johnson & Johnson and current CEO of Deinde Medical, stated during discussions with the PrimaNova team:“The field of intracranial pressure monitoring is eager for innovative products. Sencere® addresses multiple long-standing clinical pain points. I look forward to its global rollout and am honored to serve as a member of PrimaNova’s advisory team.”

Sencere® Application Scenarios

PrimaNova is rooted in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA) with a global outlook, leveraging the GBA as its R&D and industrialization base. Meanwhile, it advances the technological and product development of its robust pipeline in parallel in the United Kingdom and the United States. Driven by clinical needs as the core innovation engine, PrimaNova fully leverages its extensive clinical resources in both the GBA and worldwide., integrating international advanced engineering technologies with the high-end manufacturing industry cluster advantages of the Greater Bay Area to develop next-generation high-performance neurosurgical medical devices.

Founder and Chief Technology Officer of PrimaNovaWen PingThe PhD stated, “Over the past decade, new demands for medical devices in the field of neurosurgery have continued to emerge. We aim to empower traditional devices through innovations in emerging technologies such as sensors, artificial intelligence, and semiconductors, while making predictive assessments across various technical domains. In doing so, we seek to address critical challenges like early diagnosis and meet the current needs of clinicians. Furthermore, we are concurrently advancing collaborations with top-tier global university research institutes to facilitate the translation and industrialization of advanced technologies, thereby launching innovative medical devices that significantly enhance the safety and efficacy of neurosurgical procedures.”

President of PrimaNovaLiu Yanshen“The Shanghai Biomedical Innovation and Transformation Fund’s recognition, trust, and support are deeply appreciated by us. With its outstanding innovation capabilities and remarkable development achievements, PrimaNova has become a microcosm of high-quality development in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA). Based in the GBA, we are building a globally leading pipeline of next-generation neurosurgical products. Looking ahead, PrimaNova will continue to strengthen its team, prioritize technological innovation, forge ahead with determination, and develop more advanced medical devices to benefit patients worldwide. We also look forward to synergistic collaboration with the Shanghai Biomedical Fund and SIIC Group in industrial development.”

Partner, Shanghai Biomedical Fund; President, Shanghai Biomedical Innovation and Translation FundGuo Qiushan“Monitoring and management of intracranial pressure (ICP) are central to the clinical care of patients in neurocritical care. Continuous monitoring, combined with appropriate treatment protocols, can effectively reduce mortality among patients with brain injury. Currently, the ICP monitoring device market has long been dominated by imported products, with limited technological iteration. PrimaNova’s sensors, thanks to their innovative design, offer superior accuracy and stability compared to existing fiber-optic and pneumatic pressure sensors. The company’s independently developed automated packaging process significantly improves packaging efficiency and reduces costs. Furthermore, by integrating an AI module for real-time comprehensive analysis of various parameters, the system enables early warning of clinical changes in intracranial pressure, thereby greatly enhancing its clinical value.”

PrimaNova Lab(Shenzhen) Limited (“PrimaNova”), established in 2020, is a high-tech startup dedicated to the research, development, and industrialization of high-performance neurosurgical medical devices for the global market. With the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area serving as its R&D and industrialization base, PrimaNova concurrently advances the development of technologies and products across a robust pipeline in the United Kingdom and the United States. By leveraging global clinical resource advantages and integrating international advanced engineering technologies with the high-end manufacturing cluster strengths of the Greater Bay Area, the company develops a comprehensive series of innovative neurosurgical products to meet the evolving demands of global medicine. PrimaNova is comprehensively advancing its product pipeline, focusing on neuromonitoring, cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) management, and robotic surgical instruments for neurosurgery, aiming to effectively address clinical pain points across various subspecialties of neurosurgery, drive the advancement of neurological medicine, and benefit humanity.

The Shanghai Biomedical Innovation and Translation Fund is an early-stage fund under the Shanghai Biomedical Fund, focusing on investment opportunities in the “0 to 1” phase of the biomedical industry. It strategically targets frontier areas such as precision medicine, biotechnology, emerging drug screening and vector development platforms, multi-omics technologies, and in vitro diagnostics. Aiming to build an innovation and translation platform that is “focused on Shanghai, linked with the Yangtze River Delta and the Greater Bay Area, and oriented toward the global market,” the Translation Fund identifies internationally leading original technologies and advances them toward clinical application. By influencing and reshaping diagnostic, therapeutic, and commercial landscapes, it creates incremental market opportunities. Centered on the investment philosophy of integrating industry with finance, the fund drives joint R&D between leading enterprises and innovative companies, as well as upstream-downstream industrial collaboration, thereby enhancing the collaborative innovation value across the industry chain.