Relevance Ventures Leads Aqua Medical’s Series B for Diabetes Procedure
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Aqua Medical has closed a Series B financing led by Relevance Ventures, a Nashville, Tennessee firm. The company did not disclose the size of the round in its announcement.
Aqua Medical is headquartered in Pleasanton, California. It is a clinical-stage medical technology company working on Endoscopic Metabolic Restoration as a treatment for Type 2 diabetes.
The money will help finish the company’s ongoing U.S. RESTORE-1 pilot study and cover operational preparations for a planned U.S. pivotal trial of its investigational Proximal Intestinal Mucosal Ablation, or PIMA, procedure, pending regulatory authorization. PIMA is delivered through the working channel of a standard endoscope to treat targeted tissue in the upper small intestine, offering a minimally invasive alternative to daily medication and surgery.
The procedure relies on Aqua Medical’s radiofrequency vapor ablation system, which is already FDA-cleared for ablation in the gastrointestinal tract, including Barrett’s esophagus. Its use for PIMA remains investigational, and its safety and effectiveness for that purpose have not yet been established. Outside the U.S., Aqua Medical has treated 66 patients, and earlier studies suggest patients may become insulin-free after treatment. In the U.S., four patients have undergone the procedure under an FDA Investigational Device Exemption.
The need is large. Diabetes affects 589 million people worldwide and drives more than $1 trillion a year in healthcare spending, including $327 billion in the United States. Bob Haggerty is president and CEO. Relevance Ventures describes itself as the country’s first independently owned Native American venture capital firm.
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