Reva Medical is getting a second chance to help bring bioresorbable stents back into the forefront.  The San Diego, CA-based company said last week that it raised $45 million in a series B equity fund. 

This financing raise comes a little more than two years after the company filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy.

Reva said proceeds from the financing will be used to fund the company’s ongoing operating, clinical, and capital needs, including the clinical program for the Motiv Peripheral Vascular Bioresorbable Scaffold.

“We are very pleased to announce the close of this financing”, said Reva’s president and CEO, Jeffrey Anderson. “The funding we have secured will allow Reva to move forward with our pivotal clinical trial to support FDA approval of our Motiv peripheral vascular scaffold as well as to obtain FDA clearance of our TyroSphere bioresorbable embolic bead technology.”

Motiv is a drug-eluting bioresorbable peripheral vascular scaffold made from Reva’s Tyrocore polymer that is designed to dissolve over time, leaving the artery free of a permanent implant and thereby allowing the artery to return to its natural movement or “vasomotion.”

The financing is also another chance for bioreabsorbable stents. The devices were once all the rage – but the space collapsed after Abbott discontinued the sale of its Absorb Bioresorbable Vascular Scaffold (BVS). Abbott cited weak sales and mixed clinical data as reasons to pull the device off the market.

Boston Scientific lost faith in bioresorbable stents – exiting its program and focusing more on its Synergy line of stent. The Marlborough, MA-based company even let a distribution agreement with Reva expire.

Comeback Companies

Reva isn’t the only firm in the medtech industry that has recently rebounded from a disastrous crash.

Second Sight Medical Products announced it was winding down operations in 2000. This included laying off most of its staff. The company also announced it would auction off its assets. Sylmar, CA-based Second Sight’s fortunes changed when Pixium Vision said it would acquire the optic implant maker.

However, Pixium terminated the proposed acquisition because Second Sight filed for a $27.9 million private placement that violated a memorandum of understanding between the two.

Earlier this year, Second Sight announced it was in merger talks with Nano Precision Medical. The goal of the combined companies will be to focus on the development of drug, and device medical implants that treat chronic diseases with high unmet medical needs. 

Endologix is another company rebounding after tough times. The Irvine, CA-based company filed for Chapter 11 in July of 2020. The move would take Endologix private.

Before the filing, Endologix struggled with regulatory issues tied to the Nellix EndoVascular Aneurysm Sealing System.

Recently, Endologix shared encouraging 12-month data from its DETOUR 2 clinical trial.  The trial is designed to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of the DETOUR System for percutaneous bypass in the treatment of long-segment femoropopliteal disease.