Prescient Surgical Secures $10M Series B Funding to Accelerate CleanCision Platform Launch and Advance Zero Surgical Site Infections

Recently, VCBeat (WeChat Official Account: vcbeat) learned from foreign media reports that U.S. healthcare startup Prescient Surgical has announced the completion of its Series B financing round, amounting to $10 million. The round was led by Baxter Ventures, the venture capital arm of Baxter International Inc., a global leader in medical products, with participation from Summation Health, CWC HealthTech Advisors, and the Stanford-StartX Fund.

Prescient Surgical, founded in 2012 and headquartered in California, USA, primarily develops medical devices for the prevention of surgical site infections (SSIs). The company maintains that SSIs should never be considered an inevitable outcome of high-risk surgeries. Its mission is to help hospitals achieve zero postoperative infections by developing advanced technologies that enhance hospital SSI control protocols.

Image from the official website of Prescient Surgical

Surgical site infections (SSIs) are a major source of postoperative morbidity, with wound contamination being the root cause of SSIs. However, despite nearly a decade of focused attention on SSIs, surgical teams still struggle to control this pervasive and insidious threat. Although new surgical techniques have transformed many aspects of surgical practice, there has been little innovation in tools for preventing postoperative infections. Current surgical technologies have not yet advanced to the point of adequately eliminating contamination. Hospital leaders are seeking next-generation, evidence-based strategies to enhance their infection control programs and establish new standards of care.

Prescient Surgical has been accelerated by Stanford University’s StartX Med and the Fogarty Innovation Institute. Its team and advisory board comprise experts in surgery, infection control, medical technology development, and commercialization. Their profound understanding of surgical site infections (SSIs) plays a pivotal role in the design and development of advanced technologies that offer direct utility and long-term benefits to hospital infection control programs.

The company focused its initial research area on the abdomen, with an emphasis on colorectal surgery. In such procedures, the risk and incidence of surgical site infections are high, with nearly 50% of abdominal incisions becoming contaminated during surgery. Based on this, the Prescient Surgical team worked closely with leading hospitals in abdominal surgery to create a technology platform called Cleancision.

Cleancision is an advanced wound irrigation and protection system used during surgery to combat and defend against the most common sources of infection, keeping surgical incisions clean. Cleancision employs innovative active cleaning technology, integrating wound irrigation and protection into an intuitive system that continuously removes harmful bacteria that may infiltrate the incision during surgery. Cleancision received FDA 510(k) clearance in October 2017 for marketing in the United States, and obtained CE certification this June, approving its use in Europe.

In addition to the current round, the company’s publicly disclosed financing history includes a $6 million Series A round completed in October 2014. Following the completion of this financing, Prescient Surgical stated that the funds will be used to drive corporate growth and accelerate the launch of its award-winning CleanCision therapy.

“The latest round of investment represents our confidence in the team at Prescient Surgical. From the outset, we recognized the potential of CleanCision to significantly reduce surgical site infection (SSI) rates and healthcare costs,” said Eugene Chen, Executive Chairman of Prescient Surgical and Managing Partner at CWC HealthTech Advisors. “Today, the company is collaborating with leading hospital systems to integrate this innovative therapy into their infection control protocols, addressing a critical unmet need in infection prevention.”

Jonathan Coe, CEO of Prescient Surgical, stated, “CleanCision is becoming a key technology for raising the standard of care for surgical patients. We have brought together world-class venture capital firms, hospitals, and corporate strategic investors to support our mission of helping hospitals achieve zero surgical infections.”

Baxter Ventures is the venture capital arm of Baxter International Inc., a global leader in medical products. Baxter Ventures primarily invests in companies with innovative technologies, products, and therapies, dedicated to improving patient care outcomes worldwide while creating maximum value for investors and entrepreneurs. The firm’s investment focus includes therapeutic areas complementary to Baxter’s medical products and bioscience businesses, as well as cutting-edge technologies and therapies with long-term growth potential.

Summation Health, founded in 2014 and headquartered in California, USA, is a strategic healthcare investment fund and venture capital firm. The firm aims to accelerate entrepreneurial solutions for the healthcare system, help providers fulfill their startup missions in innovative ways, and strives to serve as a gateway for innovators to improve and develop their products.

CWC HealthTech Advisors, headquartered in San Diego, primarily invests in healthcare companies in the San Diego area. With extensive hands-on operational and intellectual property expertise, the firm helps guide startups to bring their products to market quickly and effectively.

Stanford-StartX Fund, established in 2010 and headquartered in California, USA, is one of the world’s premier startup accelerator programs. The organization’s mission is to foster the development of top-tier entrepreneurs through experiential education and peer learning. Operating across various industries, Stanford-StartX Fund has supported more than 450 companies and 1,000 entrepreneurs since its inception in 2010.