Spiro Medical, a newly formed company focused on pulmonary neuromodulation for asthma, has closed a $67 million Series A equity financing to develop what it describes as a first-of-its-kind Pulmonary Neuromodulation System (PNM) for the treatment of asthma.
The round was led by Andera Partners, Omega Funds, and Sherpa Healthcare Partners, and included participation from HSG, Supernova Invest, Northern Light Venture Capital, and Hero Inc. Ltd UK, which is part of India-based conglomerate Hero Enterprise.
The company said proceeds will be used to develop a purpose-built PNM system and to carry out the clinical work needed to support regulatory approval in the U.S.
Alongside the financing, Spiro Medical added Raphaël Wisniewski (Andera Partners), Claudio Nessi (Omega Funds), and Ouyang Xiangyu (Sherpa Healthcare Partners) to its board of directors.
Spiro is positioning neuromodulation as a new approach for asthma, citing the role of airway nerves and neural reflex pathways in symptoms such as wheezing, shortness of breath, chest tightness, and coughing. Asthma is a chronic lung disease affecting more than 28 million people in the U.S. and more than 300 million worldwide, according to the company.
Based in Irvine, California, Spiro Medical was founded by Stephen Pyles, M.D., Kurt Gehlsen, M.D., Ph.D., Rinda Sama, and G. Jay Jiang, Ph.D., and is focused on developing an implantable pulmonary neuromodulation system for patients with severe asthma.
KEY QUOTES:
“I am delighted to welcome world-class venture capital investors who understand the immense potential of this PNM technology. Once this novel approach comes to market, it promises to have a profound impact on patients suffering from Asthma and other breathing related conditions.”
Raymond W. Cohen, Chairman of the Board of Directors, Spiro Medical
“We are grateful to our co-founder Stephen Pyles M.D., for his foresight and look forward to his future contributions. We believe this is a rather unique opportunity to be starting a project with issued patents and some human data which informs us about the potential for this exciting new clinical indication for neuromodulation. We are also highly confident that we can build a world-class system given our team’s experience and expertise in developing implantable neuromodulation systems.”
Rinda Sama, CEO, Spiro Medical
