Smooth Those Facial Lines With A Cyber Pen
| MyoScience Inc., a company coming out with cryogenic devices it hopes will replace Botox injections for patients seeking to smooth out facial wrinkles, has closed an $18.8 million Series C round from insiders as it seeks clarity from regulators about how to get its products on the market.
The funding, first disclosed in a regulatory filing, was provided by return investors Accuitive Medical Ventures, De Novo Ventures, Nexus Medical Partners and AMEQ, said Rich Ferrari, chairman of the Redwood City, Calif.-based company’s board and a managing director at De Novo Ventures. |
| The Series C brings the company’s post-money valuation to $39 million, Ferrari said. The round pushes the company’s total venture backing above $30 million, according to VentureWire records.
DeNovo holds about 31% of the company’s preferred stock, Ferrari said. Founded in 2005, the company makes a device that resembles a magic marker, but which uses small needles to inject cryogenic material–in other words, a very cold substance–directly into a patient’s face, where it disrupts the nerves that allow facial muscles to form wrinkles, Ferrari said. “It freezes your face, but in a way that’s more natural than Botox,” he said. “It’s also non-toxic.” MyoScience has told VentureWire that its technology has been cleared by the Food and Drug Administration for general surgical use in treating peripheral nerves as pain relief, though it doesn’t currently have products on the market. Ferrari said the product hasn’t yet been approved for aesthetic use. MyoScience raised the Series C in order to stay afloat while awaiting word from the FDA on exactly what the company’s regulatory path will be, either a 510(k) process or a Pre-Market Approval. Once that is clarified, MyoScience will know what types of clinical trials will be necessary for its devices. At that point, the company will likely tap new and existing investors next year for a Series D round of about $20 million, assuming that certain milestones on the company’s roadmap are met, Ferrari said. MyoScience is also awaiting word from European regulators–which comes in the form of an approval known as a CE mark–on whether the devices are cleared to go on sale in Europe, he said. The founding team at MyoScience comes from CryoVascular Systems Inc., a developer of therapies to treat peripheral vascular and cardiovascular disease that was acquired by Boston Scientific Corp. in 2005 for around $200 million. |
| http://www.myoscience.com |
| It’s developing cryogenic devices to replace Botox injections for patients smoothing out wrinkles. |
