Field Medical has closed an oversubscribed seed round totalling $14m, helping advance the company’s catheter ablation platform.
The convertible note investment, led by unnamed private investors, will support clinical development of the FieldBending technology by the US-based company.
Field Medical said it plans to initiate first-in-human studies in early 2024, with results in the middle of the year.
Launching the company in 2022, cardiac electrophysiologist Dr Steven Mickelsen is known for founding Farapulse, a cardiac ablation company sold to Boston Scientific for $460m in 2021.
Dr Mickelsen’s new venture is developing a second-generation pulse field ablation system. Field Medical says its FieldBending technology aims to improve on first-generation pulse field ablation systems by increasing efficacy and reducing unintended consequences.
Catheter ablation is used to treat abnormal heart rhythms by blocking electrical pathways in the heart. Pulsed-field ablation is utilised for atrial fibrillation, but Field Medical plans to expand its use to ventricular arrhythmias, stating that applications outside of the left atrium remain mostly unexplored.
A recent research paper published in the Journal of the American Medical Association demonstrated that catheter ablation may help improve psychological symptoms such as anxiety and depression.
A market model by GlobalData estimates the electrophysiology catheter ablation device market will be worth $4.2bn by 2033.
Biosense Webster is the global market leader, with the company launching a new diagnostic mapping catheter for cardiac arrhythmia cases in July 2023. Part of the Johnson & Johnson family, the subsidiary is having to face competition from Medtronic, who posted data from its PULSED AF trial in March 2023. Boston Scientific, via its acquisition of Farapulse, leads the way in pulsed field ablation.