Apnex Medical raises $16.1M for sleep-apnea devices
Apnex Medical, a Minneapolis maker of implants for the treatment of obstructive sleep apnea, raised $16.1 million in a first round of funding. Participants included Domain Associates, New Enterprise Associates, Polaris Ventures Partners and Apnex Chairman Michael Berman.
VentureWire reports that Apnex is using “neurostimulation” technology, presumably involving timed electrical pulses to open upper-throat muscles that can close during sleep and choke off the airway, interrupting breathing for a period of up to 10 seconds — an episode known as an apnea. A number of neuromodulation companies have recently received funding, including NeuroVista, a Seattle epilepsy-treatment company, and CVRx, another Minneapolis firm with a hypertension-regulation device.
The company’s announcement is here.
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About the Author, David P. Hamilton
David Hamilton has been writing for VentureBeat LifeScience since April 2007. He formerly spent 14 years as a reporter for the Wall Street Journal in its San Francisco and Tokyo bureaus. Prior to that, he spent several years as a reporter at Science Magazine and as a reporter/researcher for the New Republic, both in Washington.