Altura Medical Inc., a San Clemente-based medical device maker, said Tuesday that it raised $20 million in a first round of venture capital funding.
Altura plans to use the money to develop devices to treat abdominal aortic aneurysms, or a ballooning blood vessel near the heart, and to conduct early clinical trials, said George Wallace, its acting chief executive.
The company still is several years away from commercializing its device, Wallace said.
Some 1.5 million Americans are living with abdominal aortic aneurysms, and each year, 250,000 new cases are diagnosed, according to Altura.
Altura is touting its device as an as an alternative to complex surgery to repair the abdominal aortic aneurysm.
New Leaf Venture Partners of Menlo Park and New York led the investment in Altura.
Advanced Technology Ventures, which has offices in Palo Alto and Waltham, Mass., and SV Life Sciences, which has offices in San Francisco, Boston and London, also participated in the investment.
