29 April 2022 - - US-based medical device startup Ictero Medical, Inc has raised an oversubscribed USD 6m series A financing led by MedTex Ventures, S3 Ventures, and an undisclosed strategic investor, the company said.

The funding will be used to continue product development and complete initial clinical testing.

While over 1m patients per year in the US undergo surgical removal of their gallbladder to treat symptomatic gallstones, there remains a large, underserved segment of high-risk patients that would benefit from an alternative to surgery.

Ictero's technology leverages existing interventional techniques to deliver cryoablation therapy to effectively defunctionalize the gallbladder without the need to remove it.

To accelerate product development and clinical activities toward regulatory clearance, Ictero Medical recently launched a partnership with Biotex, Inc., an experienced, Houston-based medical device development firm.

The partnership provides Ictero with comprehensive engineering resources and in-house manufacturing capabilities, as well as capital support from MedTex Ventures through its Biotex Medical Device Fund.

Ictero Medical was founded in 2018 as part of the Texas Medical Center's Biodesign Fellowship program and is developing the first cryoablation system to treat high-risk patients with gallstone disease.

Ictero's catheter-based technology can be used in the interventional radiology suite to treat the gallbladder without having to remove it, ultimately allowing clinicians to offer their patients the benefits of surgery without the risk.

Previous funding support includes a Phase I NSF grant and a USD 1m Seed round co-led by the Texas Medical Center Venture Fund and Texas HALO Fund.

MedTex Ventures is a venture capital firm focused on early-stage medical devices. The team consists of expert investors with diverse backgrounds representing the buy-side, sell-side, and medical device industry.

The firm has created the Biotex Medical Device Fund and partnered with Biotex Inc. to help source, analyze, develop, finance and manage medical device companies.

Biotex is a product development firm and manufacturer for novel medical technologies. Located adjacent to Texas Medical Center, Biotex employs a team of over 50 engineers and specialists with expertise in medical device development, manufacturing, regulatory clearance, and commercialization.

Biotex also serves as a supplier and contract manufacturer to several industry-leading medical device companies.

With USD 900m in assets under management, S3 Ventures is the largest venture capital firm focused on Texas.

The Texas Medical Center Venture Fund (TMCVF) is the venture capital arm of the TMC, the largest medical center in the world.

TMCVF serves health, education, and research needs of Texas by partnering with entrepreneurs through investment in their companies, supporting their strategic and operational needs, and helping them gain access and connectivity to the member institutions at the TMC.