Cordis-X is betting big on a next-generation technology that could provide protection against pulmonary embolisms (PE).

The Menlo Park, CA-based company reported an $11.5 million series F investment in Adient Medical, a company developing an absorbable inferior vena cava (IVC) filter. The device is designed to avoid risks of perforation, migration, fracture, and thrombosis currently associated with IVC filters. Such safety issues have been the focus of the FDA-mandated PRESERVE (Predicting the Safety and Effectiveness of Inferior Vena Cava Filters) study of IVC filters from six manufacturers.

In 2012, Jeremy Durack, MD, chief clinical officer of Cordis-X, authored a seminal paper exposing the safety concerns with metal filters. He has since served as a member of Adient's scientific advisory board and will now join Adient as the chief clinical officer. Durack will work collaboratively with Adient Chief Medical Officer Joseph Steele, MD, and Matthew Johnson, principal investigator of PRESERVE and of Adient's upcoming pivotal study, on clinical validation of Adient's technology.

"The Adient fully absorbable filter solution creates a new paradigm to protect patients from pulmonary embolus," Durack said. "I am thrilled to be part of the collaborative team of Adient, Cordis, and Cordis-X and to see this groundbreaking approach come to fruition."

Cordis-X's investment in Adient reinforces a unique business model that identifies and advances differentiated technologies with the potential to expand the Cordis portfolio with innovative and clinically compelling solutions that respond to unmet needs in cardiovascular health.

Adient has obtained an investigational device exemption (IDE) for both a 510(k) study for therapeutic indication and a premarket approval application for the first-ever prophylactic indication, potentially multiplying the addressable market size and establishing a new standard of care for patients with short-term PE risk from immobilizing surgery, trauma, or other medical procedures.

"Bringing the first fully absorbable IVC filter to market during a time when both absorbable implants and IVC filters have faced significant challenges has been a tough but rewarding endeavor," Steele said. "We didn't set out to do something easy. We set out to do something revolutionary."

Cordis CEO Shar Matin said the Adient collaboration is a great example of the approach the organization is taking with Cordis and Cordis-X, which is to bring together the relevant business experts, scientists, and physicians to solve a problem like PE.

Adient was founded in 2012 in Houston, Texas by engineer and inventor Mitch Eggers, who serves as the company's CEO and president. Eggers said the Cordis-X philosophy held particular appeal.

"So many companies are just caught up in developing the next incremental product. So, for somebody to stand up, be bold, and put money behind next-generation ideas that really make a difference is fantastic," Eggers said. "For too long we have placed metal devices into patients when an absorbable product can cover the greatest risk window of a few weeks and fully dissolve within 6 months. With the help of Cordis-X and Cordis, we may finally begin to see a material reduction in PE rates if we can apply this product more prophylactically to a wider population of patients at risk of PE."