TYRX, Inc., the leader in the commercialization of implantable medical devices designed to help reduce surgical-site infections associated with implantable pacemakers and defibrillators, announced today that it has raised $20 million in venture capital funding. The funding was led by new investor, HLM Venture Partners along with previous investors Clarus Ventures and Pappas Ventures. The financing round also included $4 million in debt financing from Comerica Bank. In connection with the financing, Edward L. Cahill, Managing Partner, HLM Venture Partners, will join TYRX’s Board of Directors.
“This continued investment from Clarus and Pappas Ventures, along with participation from new TYRX investor HLM Venture Partners, is a strong validation of TYRX’s products and business strategy,” stated Robert White, TYRX’s Chief Executive Officer. “During 2010 we have reached a number of key milestones in a transformational year for TYRX including:
• Successfully implanting the AIGISRx® device in over 13,000 patients.
• Realization of over $10M in AIGISRx revenue since commercial launch, growing nearly 100% in 2010.
• Publication of our first human clinical trial data on 642 patients showing a 99.5% rate of successful implantation and demonstrating 70% fewer infections than some previous studies within the highest risk cohort of implantable defibrillator replacements. The study also showed no infections in patients receiving initial implantations of pacemakers or implantable defibrillators.
• Completion of the enrollment phase at 50 clinical study sites in 2 major new studies designed to measure infections and mechanical complications associated with implantable defibrillators. These studies will enroll a total of 4300 patients.
• U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) 510(k) clearance to market AIGISRx ST, an antibacterial product for the surgical repair of damaged or ruptured soft tissue.”
“We are excited to be partnering with Clarus and Pappas Ventures to finance TYRX in the pursuit of making AIGISRx the standard of care in the cardiac rhythm management space,” commented Mr. Cahill. “With over 500,000 critically important pacemakers and defibrillators being implanted annually in the United States, and an infection rate that is growing much faster than the growth in procedures, TYRX has a unique and powerful solution. Each infection typically costs between $28,000 and $58,000 but can exceed $100,000. In addition major infections carry a very high risk of death with 1-year patient mortality recently reported to be over 17%. TYRX is the leader in addressing this important patient safety issue and offers a meaningful improvement in the quality of patient care.”