ExThera Medical develops the Seraph Microbind Affinity Blood Filter, a single-use blood filter designed to capture and remove bacteria, viruses, parasites, toxins and pro-inflammatory cytokines from whole blood. The device uses proprietary microspheres coated with molecular receptor sites that mimic human cell receptors and an immobilized heparin adsorption media. Seraph has been validated in preclinical studies and is under evaluation in a first-in-man clinical trial in Europe, enrolling dialysis patients in Germany. The company's immediate clinical focus is therapeutic applications in high-risk populations such as patients undergoing dialysis; it also intends future applications including treatment of drug-resistant pathogens and purification of donated blood. ExThera is a privately held company based in Martinez, Calif., with a portfolio of patents, participation in DARPA's Dialysis-Like Therapeutics program, and a growing body of independent laboratory data. The company closed a $15.3M Series B to support European and U.S. clinical trials, regulatory approvals, and to scale manufacturing of the device. ExThera Medical is a privately held medical device company based in Berkeley, Calif., developing the Seraph Microbind Affinity Blood Filter for treatment of blood-borne diseases such as viremia and bacteremia. Seraph uses the affinity of pathogens to immobilized heparin within the device to bind and remove bacteria, viruses, fungi and toxins from whole blood. The company positions Seraph as a biomimetic adjunct to anti-infective drugs that can reduce pathogen load and potentially prevent complications and systemic inflammatory response. ExThera also targets removal of harmful substances in banked human blood and envisions use when effective drugs are unavailable to supplement patients' immune responses. Current corporate plans include completing a first clinical trial and moving toward initial regulatory approval and commercialization. The Seraph device is not cleared by the FDA for distribution in the United States.

Total raised

$19M

Funding rounds

2

Latest round

Series B

Latest activity

Jun 2016