Qvanteq, a coronary stent manufacturer based in Switzerland, announced that it pulled in $4.3 million in a Series B round of financing. This latest financing round will place the company in direct competition with other European stent manufacturers.

According to a press release by the company, the Series B funds will be used to complete a first-in-man trial of its stent technology. The company will also pursue CE Mark approval with the European Union for its stent device.

While there are lots of other stent manufacturers in Europe, Qvanteq believes that it has something new to offer. Qvanteq’s stent does not have a coating and does not elute a drug. Instead, it uses a specialized “surface” technology that gives it bioactivity. To date, the device has performed well in comparison with drug-eluting and bare metal stents from other manufacturers.

According to Qvanteq, it believes the regulatory approval process for its device will be straightforward. It will compete directly with drug-eluting stents for treatment of patients with restenosis, or blood vessel narrowing. The company was founded in 2009 by the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology.

References

http://qvanteq.com/2012