• Advanced Animal Diagnostics

  Participated · Equity · Mar 2016

  Advanced Animal Diagnostics develops diagnostic equipment for dairy farmers to identify infections and inform antibiotic usage. Its flagship product, the QScout MLD (milk leukocyte differential), tests and identifies white blood cells in milk and looks for data that could signify infection. The company positions its technology to help farmers monitor herd health more precisely and reduce unnecessary antibiotic use. Financially, the company recently raised capital via a debt offering and disclosed additional capital needs in an SEC filing. Joy Parr Drach has served as president and CEO since 2009 and previously founded Entira, a marketing strategy and business development firm. The article does not disclose revenues, users, or other operating metrics. Advanced Animal Diagnostics builds diagnostic tools designed to detect and determine the stage of livestock infections by measuring the animal's immune response. The technology is intended to help reduce the number of antibiotics administered to animals on farms. The company is based in North Carolina. It recently secured a $1.7 million equity top-up financing from existing investors. Those investors had committed to the company's $15 million Series C in December 2014, including Cultivian Sandbox, Kansas Bioscience Authority, and Middleland Capital. According to CrunchBase, the company has raised a total of $36 million to date. Advanced Animal Diagnostics develops on-farm diagnostic technologies to help livestock producers manage animal health and costly diseases. Its core products include the QScout MLD test and QScout Farm Lab, which detect subclinical mastitis in dairy cows and help prevent milk and reproductive losses. The company says its tests also safeguard animal health and promote more judicious use of antibiotics. AAD intends to use new funding to accelerate commercialization of its current QScout MLD offering and to expand its product line by advancing development of additional livestock tests for dairy and beef markets. The company also plans to invest in production and manufacturing to support commercialization. AAD is led by president and CEO Joy Parr Drach and is based in Durham, N.C. Advanced Animal Diagnostics (AAD) develops on-farm diagnostic systems and tests intended to improve animal health and ensure a high-quality animal protein supply. Its core product line centers on the Qscout™ automated on-farm lab system and the Qscout™ MLD rapid on-farm test for mastitis in dairy cows. The company’s first product is a rapid, on-farm diagnostic test for faster, more accurate detection of subclinical mastitis. All tests on the market or in development at AAD are processed by the Qscout automated reader so producers can run multiple tests on the same instrument. AAD plans to launch the Qscout system and Qscout MLD test, develop new tests to detect disease-causing pathogens, and study use of the Qscout MLD test at other times during lactation. The company is based in Durham, NC and recently closed financing to support these initiatives. Advanced Animal Diagnostics (AAD) develops highly accurate, rapid on-farm diagnostic tests, with its first product focused on early detection of mastitis to improve milk production and quality. The company commercialized the QuickSmear™ rapid differential slide for researchers in 2009 and is targeting on-farm tests that work on colostrum to enable immediate treatment. Future product plans include diagnostics to monitor disease states, reproductive, nutritional and overall health status of production animals. AAD was founded in 2001 and began with a USDA SBIR grant and subsequent funding from the North Carolina Biotechnology Center. The firm previously raised a $1.1 million Series A from private investors. Proceeds from the recent financing are expected to support hiring, production and manufacturing, and on-farm economic trials of its first product line; the company is actively seeking cooperators for those trials.

• Flow Forward Medical

  Led · Series A · May 2015

  Flow Forward Medical is developing the Arteriovenous Fistula Eligibility (AFE) System, a small external blood pump designed to stimulate flow-mediated vein dilation to make more patients eligible for arteriovenous fistula (AVF) creation. The company aims to increase AVF success rates and unassisted maturation, addressing high AVF failure rates and inadequate vein diameter that prevent many patients from receiving preferred vascular access. The article cites that hemodialysis is a lifesaving treatment for more than 2.3 million patients worldwide and notes AVF failure can be as high as 60 percent after conventional placement. Flow Forward highlights that there are currently no FDA‑approved products to increase AVF eligibility or unassisted AVF maturation. The company plans to advance the AFE System into a first‑in‑human clinical trial planned for 2019. Management states the technology could enable more rapid creation of fully mature, reliable, and long‑lasting AVF vascular access sites. Flow Forward Medical is an early-stage company developing the Arteriovenous Fistula Eligibility (AFE) System, a small, minimally invasive external blood pump intended for temporary use to stimulate flow-mediated dilation of peripheral veins prior to AVF surgery. The AFE System aims to increase the number of patients eligible for arteriovenous fistula creation and to improve post-surgical AVF success rates. In early nonclinical studies the company reported more rapid vein dilation, large increases in blood flow, and a significant reduction in vein wall scarring compared with conventional AVF creation. The company plans to use Series A proceeds to continue development of the AFE System, and will use NIH SBIR funding to test peripheral vein dilation in a nonclinical model. Flow Forward is headquartered in Olathe, Kansas, and to date has raised approximately $5.7 million in equity funding.

• Artio Medical

  Led · Series A · Feb 2015

  Artio Medical is a Prairie Village, Kan.-based medical device company developing products for the peripheral vascular, neurovascular, and cardiology markets. Its core products include the recently cleared Solus Gold™ Embolization Device and the Solus Flex™ Embolization Device for peripheral vessel occlusion. The company is developing ten products for the peripheral vascular market, including the Amplifi™ Vein Dilation System to prepare hemodialysis patients for arteriovenous fistula creation. It is also developing four neurovascular products, including the Endura™ Embolization System comprising a detachable balloon and coils for treatment of saccular brain aneurysms. Artio plans to use new financing to commercialize Solus Gold in the U.S. and to advance its broader product portfolio. The company will also expand its engineering and manufacturing capabilities; the new financing brought total capital raised to date to $74m. Artio Medical is a Prairie Village, Kan.-based medical device company led by President and CEO F. Nicholas Franano, MD. It develops devices for the peripheral vascular, neurovascular, and structural heart markets. Its lead products include the Amplifi Vein Dilation System, intended to prepare hemodialysis patients for vascular access site creation, and the Solus Gold Embolization Device, a low-profile flexible catheter assembly with a non-porous, gold balloon-like implant designed for precise placement and immediate vessel occlusion. The Amplifi system has shown promising results in initial clinical testing. The company closed an additional $12M tranche of Series A financing, bringing the round total to $46M. It intends to use the funds to complete the first-in-human clinical study of Amplifi and to prepare for commercialization of Solus Gold. Artio Medical is a Fairway, Kan.-based medical device company focused on developing innovative endovascular products for the peripheral vascular, neurovascular, and structural heart markets. Its core product highlighted in the article is the Solus Gold™ Embolization Device, designed to provide precision placement, immediate occlusion, and rapid sealing of arteries, veins, saccular aneurysms, and other blood-containing structures. The company plans to use newly raised funds to obtain 510(k) marketing clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to market Solus Gold in the U.S. Artio closed an additional $8.8M in Series A financing, bringing total capital raised to date to more than $20M. The raise is intended to support regulatory clearance and U.S. commercialization efforts. The company is led by President and CEO F. Nicholas Franano, MD. Metactive Medical is developing novel medical devices and catheter delivery systems to treat neurovascular, peripheral vascular and structural heart diseases. Its first products enable precise and immediate occlusion and rapid sealing of arteries, veins, saccular aneurysms, left atrial appendages, and para-valvular leaks using detachable implants and highly flexible catheter delivery systems, including the over-the-wire Blockstent Microcatheter. The company closed an additional $1.2M in Series A financing from Mid-America Angels and Serra Ventures, bringing total funding to more than $10M to date. It was also awarded a $1.5M Phase 2 SBIR grant from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NIH) to commercialize the Blockstent Microcatheter for occlusion of peripheral arteries and veins. The new capital and grant will be used to continue development of its platform of embolic products. Metactive is led by President and CEO F. Nicholas Franano and is based in Fairway, Kansas. Metactive Medical develops novel endovascular embolization devices delivered via an over-the-wire microcatheter platform to enable precise, immediate occlusion and rapid sealing of cerebral aneurysms and peripheral vessel segments. The company reports nonclinical data showing immediate, complete and lasting occlusion of large saccular aneurysms with rapid endothelialization of the aneurysm neck, and robust peripheral occlusion device performance. Proceeds from the recent financing will be used to continue development of devices for occlusion of saccular aneurysms and peripheral arteries and veins. Metactive’s first products are intended to be faster and easier for physicians to use and less expensive for payers relative to existing options. The article notes more than 150,000 peripheral vascular embolization procedures and more than 150,000 cerebral aneurysm embolization procedures are performed worldwide each year, indicating substantial market need. F. Nicholas Franano, MD, serves as President and CEO; the company also appointed David Ferrera to its board to support development and commercialization efforts.

• Health Outcomes Sciences

  Led · Series A · Mar 2014

  Health Outcomes Sciences Inc. (HOS) is a health care IT company based in Overland Park, Kan. Led by Matt Wilson, president and CEO, the company provides the ePRISM® clinical decision support software. ePRISM delivers evidence-based individualized risk models to physicians at the point of care. The company completed a $5M first close of its Series A financing and expects to raise up to an additional $2M. It intends to use the funds to grow sales of its software. Investors in the round include the Kansas Bioscience Authority and Grayhawk Venture Fund II, with participation from existing angel investors.

• Aratana Therapeutics

  Participated · Series A · Jan 2011

  Aratana Therapeutics is focused on developing novel medicines for companion animals, specifically cats and dogs. The company holds worldwide animal-health rights to three patent-protected compounds—two acquired from RaQualia Pharma Inc. and one from Pacira Pharmaceuticals, Inc. It is advancing those compounds to address osteoarthritis-related pain, inappetence and frailty, and post-surgical pain. Aratana is led by President and CEO Steven St. Peter, M.D. The company intends to use the Series C proceeds to continue expanding its product pipeline. The business is based in Kansas City, KS. Aratana Therapeutics develops innovative, patent‑protected medicines for companion animals, acquiring compounds from human pharmaceutical and biotech companies. The company licenses and develops those compounds and then out‑licenses or partners with major animal health firms for commercialization. It intends to use new capital to expand its product pipeline and to in‑license and develop novel medicines for dogs and cats. Leadership is led by CEO Dr. Linda Rhodes and President & COO David K. Rosen, DVM. Financially, the company has raised capital this year including a $20M Series A and additional financing described below, bringing total capital raised to $31M. Aratana Therapeutics is a newly-formed company based in Kansas City, Kansas focused on developing innovative therapies for the animal health industry. The company’s core activity is the development of new therapeutic products for animals. It closed a $20m Series A financing to support its work. The round was led by MPM Capital and Avalon Ventures with participation from the Kansas Bioscience Authority. As part of the transaction Dr. Steven St. Peter (MPM) and Jay Lichter (Avalon) will join Aratana’s board, which also includes Ron Meeusen. Dr. Linda Rhodes, founder and vice-president of clinical development at AlcheraBio, will join Aratana as CEO in February 2011, and Dr. David Rosen is President and Founder.

No current team members are available.