World’s Smallest Heart Pump Yields $55M For Startup

An Israeli startup behind the world’s smallest heart pump has raised $55 million.

Magenta Medical’s device will be used to support patients arriving at the hospital with heart failure, or undergoing high-risk treatments to alleviate their symptoms. 

The pump can support the heart’s activity, and even replace it for several days until it recovers, by temporarily opening clogged arteries in the hearts of cardiac patients, and improving symptoms like chest pain and shortness of breath.

The pump is folded up and inserted through a catheter via the groin. Once it has been guided to the heart’s left ventricle (which is responsible for pumping oxygenated blood all over the body), and the catheter has been removed, it expands by up to three and a half times.

Inside the heart, the speed of the pump can be adjusted to provide more than five liters of blood a minute – the full cardiac output of an adult at rest. The company says the pump is more powerful than others, with peak flows exceeding seven liters per minute. 

Existing temporary devices provide a more limited flow of oxygenated blood to the body’s tissues or require an invasive surgical procedure – or both. 

Magenta Medical’s product has undergone trials with 15 patients in Georgia, USA. The company is now preparing to launch its clinical programs in the US. The financing will be used to advance the clinical programs of the product towards its first FDA approval. 

The funding was raised by global healthcare investment manager OrbiMed, with participation from existing investors New Enterprise Associates, Pitango VC, and ALIVE – Israel HealthTech Fund.  

“Magenta is proud to add OrbiMed to its growing roster of leading MedTech investors as a highly reputable partner for innovative medical device companies,” said CEO Dr. David Israeli.

“I am confident that together we can build an organization well-equipped to bring to the market high-impact technology that can potentially address multiple unmet needs in the general cardiology patient population, as well as in many under-served patient groups.”

Magenta Medical was founded in 2012, and is based in Kadima Zoran, central Israel.