TransEnterix CEO: "Great Expectations" for new $15M in Funding

From WRAL Techwire

Medical device company TransEnterix [a CED Member] is closing in on a $15 million round of fundraising as the firm continues to build sales for its minimally invasive surgical system.

“We have great plans and expectations for this financing,” CEO Todd Pope said in an e-mailed statement. “While I won’t go into detail now, I would emphasize that this financing was spearheaded by our current investors, which reflects their confidence in our corporate strategy and their excitement about the groundbreaking medical devices we continue to develop and commercialize.”

Securities filings show that TransEnterix has raised $14.9 million in the equity round, which opened on November 30 and included participation from nine investors. Including the current fundraising round, TransEnterix’s venture capital haul is more than $75 million.

Investors in the company, which is based in Research Triangle Park, include: Aisling Capital, Intersouth Partners, Quaker Partners, SV Life Science Advisers, Synergy Life Science Partners and Parish Capital Advisors.

TransEnterix has developed and commercialized a surgical system that requires only a small incision to enter the body through the bellybutton. BCC Research estimates that the global laparoscopy market was $6.8 billion in 2011 and is projected to reach $10.6 billion in 2016.

The TransEnterix Single Port Instrument Delivery Extended Reach, or SPIDER Surgical System gives surgeons 360-degree motion in a device the diameter of a dime. Once inside, the SPIDER opens like an umbrella giving surgeons the flexibility and capability to perform a variety of abdominal procedures. The single incision reduces patient scarring and also means quicker recovery time.

TransEnterix last raised money in 2009, a $55 million series B round as the company readied for the launch of its surgical system. The SPIDER became commercially available in the United States in early 2010 and later that year TransEnterix received a CE Mark clearing the way for market entry into Europe. A new version of the surgical system launched last March