Exthera Medical closes $12 million Series A for Seraph blood infection filter

Martinez, Calif.-based Exthera Medical said it raised a $12 million Series A round following positive tests of its CE-Marked Seraph  blood filter in animal studies.

The company announced in January that was selected for participation in a subcontract with the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency due to results showing the safety and efficacy of the Seraph device. The device removed an average of 80% of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus bacteria, the company said.

Following the Seraph’s CE Marking for a clinical trial in December 2015, chief technology officer Keith McCrea said the company planned to make the device available to dialysis patients, “who are highly susceptible to bloodstream infections via their blood access catheters.”

The device could also be used to assure the safety of blood transfusion, especially in low-income countries where quality control procedures are lacking. And Exthera has said it will conduct clinical studies of the device in patients with sepsis.

According to the company website, the disposable device contains microspheres that bind to bacteria and toxins, mimicking blood vessels found within the human body.

An SEC filing lists Exthera executives, as well as George Pitarra, the president of Berkeley, Calif.-based Emergence Venture Partners and philanthropist John Feik, the former COO of DFB Pharmaceuticals.

The company was founded in 2008 as a joint venture between the Emergence Venture Partners Life Science Incubator and Stockholm-based ExThera AB.

In 2014, the company said it completed an initial $3.75 million closing of a $7 million convertible note offering.

There is $491,018 in equity remaining to be sold in the Series A round, according to the filing.

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