NeoChord Secures $25 Million in Series D Funding to Advance Transcatheter Chordal Repair Procedure

Recently, VCBeat (WeChat Official Account: vcbeat) learned from foreign media reports that U.S. medical technology company NeoChord has recently completed a Series D equity financing round amounting to $25 million. The round was led by U.S. Venture Partners, with participation from Deerfield Management, and existing investor Baird Capital made an additional investment.

NeoChord, founded in 2007 and headquartered in St. Louis Park, Minnesota, USA, is a private medical technology company dedicated to improving minimally invasive repair procedures for degenerative mitral regurgitation (DMR). The company’s flagship product is the DS1000 Artificial Chordae Delivery System. This single-use, handheld device enables mitral valve repair on a beating heart through a 2- to 3-inch incision between the patient’s ribs, without the need for cardiopulmonary bypass or aortic cross-clamping.

Image from the NeoChord official website

The DS1000 utilizes 2D and 3D echocardiographic guidance. The system is introduced via the left ventricular apex and navigated to the mitral valve. Expandable jaws on the device are then used to grasp the prolapsing segment of the dysfunctional mitral leaflet, positioning artificial chordae tendineae along the edge of the prolapsing segment. Progressive tension is applied to the artificial chordae to reduce mitral regurgitation, with real-time confirmation via echocardiography. Once mitral regurgitation is reduced to the desired level, the artificial chordae are secured at the ventricular apex. Throughout the procedure, the operator precisely adjusts the length of the implanted chordae based on real-time feedback from a fiber-optic monitor, thereby reducing and eliminating mitral regurgitation.

In contrast, traditional mitral valve repair surgery requires a 3- to 10-inch chest incision (sternotomy), involving sternum division, thoracic cavity opening, and cardiopulmonary bypass. Compared with traditional surgery, the DS1000 can significantly reduce operative time.

The device received CE market authorization in December 2012 and obtained U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Investigational Device Exemption (IDE) approval for the pivotal ReChord trial in May 2016. This September, NeoChord completed Asia’s first surgical procedure on a patient with degenerative mitral regurgitation at Queen Mary Hospital (QMH) in Hong Kong.

Following the completion of this round of financing, the company intends to use the funds to accelerate the development of transcatheter chordae tendineae repair procedures.

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