ZipLine Medical, Inc. has raised $4.3 million in a Series C financing round. The company, founded in 2009 and headquartered in Campbell, California, made the announcement on January 21, 2014.
ZipLine Zaps Sutures, Gains Funding
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Secondary
Skin closure is the common denominator of nearly all surgical procedures. With that in mind, Amir Belson, M.D. started the company to develop a noninvasive surgical skin closure device for suture-like outcomes at the speed of staples, with a reduced risk of surgical site infection.
Clinical Study Results
The financing comes on the heels of preliminary clinical study results from a randomized, controlled, prospective clinical study comparing the ZipLine Surgical skin closure product to traditional stitches for skin cancer excision. These results were presented at the 16th Annual Mount Sinai Winter Symposium on Advances in Medical and Surgical Dermatology, which took place December 6-8, 2013, in New York.
Hooman Khorasani, M.D., chief of the Division of Mohs, Reconstructive and Cosmetic Surgery at Mount Sinai School of Medicine and principal investigator for the study, said the ZipLine device produced, “similar cosmetic outcomes to a traditional suture closure while significantly reducing the treatment time, which can in turn reduce the overall cost of the procedure. In addition, since with the ZipLine there are no sutures to remove, this limited the need for immediate patient return, which can benefit both the patient and clinic. The patient can instead return later when the wound is more healed.”
Reduced Wound Closure Time
According to the company, the patient can take off the device like a band-aid once the healing is done instead of going back in for another expensive medical visit to have staples or sutures removed, so payors are happy.
The company statement added that the preliminary data suggested a 57% reduction in wound closure procedure time when using the ZipLine device instead of sutures.
The financing round was led by new investor RA Capital Management LLC, a Boston-based healthcare crossover fund that invests in development-stage private and public drug, medical device, and diagnostic companies. The financing round included participation from existing investors XSeed Capital and Claremont Creek Ventures, both based in California. Proceeds from the Series C financing will be used to expand sales and marketing efforts.
The company’s devices are classified by the U.S. FDA as “Class I, Exempt.”
TKA Video
To watch a cool video of the device in a total knee arthroplasty procedure, click here and then click on the video.
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Discussion
This is a fascinating development. In my practice we've seen similar outcomes with the revised protocol. The key differentiator seems to be patient selection criteria. Has anyone else noticed the correlation with BMI thresholds?
Great point. I'd push back slightly on the conclusion, the sample size in the cited study is too small to draw population-level inferences. That said, the directional signal is compelling and worth a larger RCT.
We implemented a similar approach last year. Early results are promising but we're still gathering 12-month follow-up data. Happy to share our protocol if anyone is interested.
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