Update: Aerin Medical raises $6.7m for nasal RF device

Nasal airflow device developer Aerin Medical raised $6.7 million in a new round of equity financing, according to an SEC filing posted last week, and CEO Fred Dinger spoke to MassDevice.com about the company’s trajectory and what the funding is slated for.

Aerin Medical is developing a novel nasal breathing repair device for treating nasal obstruction and reducing rhinitis, using radio frequency energy to reshape interior nasal tissue.

“We have a bipolar RF, which is actually non-invasive.  So the product stays on the outside of the tissue, and does not penetrate the tissue. It treats the tissue transmucosaly,” Dinger said.

Dinger said the company has a goal of creating an approach to treating nasal obstructions and disorders that would be useable in an office environment instead of on the operating table.

“Right now, for a surgical route, you would have to undergo a spreader graft process, or a nasal valve procedure,” Dinger said.  “It’s mostly done by facial plastic surgeons, and the nose is actually lifted from the face and cartilage is taken from the ear or the rib and inserted into the nose to act as struts to not allow the nose to collapse down while the patient’s breathing.”

The procedure requires general anesthetic and hospital stays that can run multiple days, Dinger said.  The company’s device, however, can be operated under local anesthetic and has no recovery time.

Dinger said the company won CE Mark approval in the European Union and is in the process of commercializing the product in Europe.  Aerin is also working with the FDA as they seek clearance in the U.S. for the novel device, Dinger added.

On the horizon for Aerin was an expansion of its nasal obstruction treatments into issues that are only currently treated by medication.

“We’re looking at other areas of nasal obstruction which are currently not treated at all surgically,” Dinger said.

The company is looking to raise another $7.6 million in the round to bring the total up to $14.3 million, according to the filing.  Dinger said the funds are currently earmarked to help gain more clinical data on the device and continue towards regulatory approvals in the U.S. and elsewhere.

The $6.7 million already raised was funded by 11 unnamed investors. Investors Targeted Technology and Launch Capital list Aerin on their portfolio pages.

Dinger previously served as CEO of ENTrigue Surgical, which was snatched up for $45 million by ArthroCare (NSDQ:ARTC) in July 2013.

The company was founded by Dr. Scott Wolf, who previously founded cryolipolysis fat reducing device maker Zeltiq (NSDQ:ZLTQ), which won FDA clearance for the device in 2010.

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