Benvenue Medical Secures $64 Million in New Funding

Benvenue Medical Inc., a Santa Clara, Calif,-based developer of minimally invasive solutions for spine repair, has completed a $64 million round of financing. The spine company intends to use the proceeds to build its U.S. commercial presence, scale up manufacturing, increase administrative functions to support overall corporate growth and provide working capital to fund growth in operating activities.

The financing is a combination of $40 million in Series E equity supplemented with $24 million in debt.

The Series E equity financing was led by new investor InterWest Partners with all existing major investors participating and Silicon Valley Bank was the sole debt provider.

“We welcome new investor InterWest Partners, and we’re gratified by the continued support from our existing investors and Silicon Valley Bank, who has been our long-standing banking partner. We believe the large investment in our company is due to Kiva’s successful U.S. launch, the Luna device bearing a CE mark and its upcoming FDA submission. We’re all very excited about the enthusiastic response we’ve received from the spine community,” said Robert Weigle, CEO of Benvenue Medical.

Benvenue also added Gil Kliman, M.D., from InterWest Partners to its board of directors.

“Benvenue Medical is, without a doubt, one of the most exciting companies in the spine category.We’re happy to be a part of the significant positive momentum that clearly shows how well- positioned the company is for considerable commercial success in the global spine market,” said Kliman

Benvenue Medical has entered a $9 billion global spine device market with its three minimally invasive products to treat degenerative disc disease (DDD) with spinal fusion and vertebral compression fractures (VCFs):

• Kiva VCF Treatment System provides a new implant-based approach to vertebral augmentation in the treatment of painful VCFs.Kiva was recently launched in the United States and it is commercially available in Europe. Kiva has been shown, in at least three comparative studies with a total of more than 500 patients, to meet or exceed the performance of balloon kyphoplasty, the standard of care, according to the company. Kiva is indicated for the reduction and treatment of spine fractures in the thoracic and/or lumbar spine from T6-L5. It is intended to be used in combination with the Benvenue Vertebral Augmentation Cement Kit.

• Blazer- C Vertebral Augmentation System is used by physicians to create channels within the vertebral body for bone cement delivery. The Blazer-C System is indicated for the treatment of pathological compression fractures of the vertebral body that may result from osteoporosis, benign lesions, malignant lesions, by creating channels in the existing spinal bone structure for the flow of polymethylmethacrylate bone cement.

• Luna Interbody System is used in minimally invasive spinal fusion procedures for degenerative disc disease and incorporates Benvenue Medical’s proprietary implant technology. It has received the CE mark. It is not currently available in the United States.

Founded in 2004, Benvenue Medical develops minimally invasive expandable implants for the spine. The company is privately held and funded by InterWest Partners, Versant Ventures, DeNovo Ventures, Domain Associates and Technology Partners.