Tustin-based medical device maker Uptake Medical Corp. has received European regulatory permission for its InterVapor device for treating severe emphysema.
The approval marks the first clearance for sales of its sole product.
Uptake officials were in Amsterdam at the European Respiratory Society Annual Congress last week and unavailable for further comment.
InterVapor uses heated water vapor to treat hyperinflated parts of a patient’s lung. The company said the device doesn’t leave any foreign materials in the lung.
Foreign materials can lead to complications in patients who might require additional procedures.
InterVapor is intended for patients with emphysema and other lung conditions. It’s designed to allow remaining healthy lung tissue to expand and function normally.
“As the only endoscopic lung volume reduction procedure that uses a natural healing process…we believe that InterVapor will play an important role in advancing treatments for emphysema,” King Nelson, Up-take’s chief executive, said in a statement.
3-City Trial
Uptake has initiated a three-site study of InterVapor, with trials ongoing in Phoenix, Boston and Iowa City, Iowa.
The company was originally based in Seattle, but moved its headquarters to Orange County in 2010. Nelson lives here and commuted to Seattle for three years before the shift. Several other high-ranking executives also live here.
Uptake’s sales, marketing, clinical, regulatory and finance operations moved to Tustin.
Its research and development remained in Seattle.
Local Talent
After the shift of headquarters to Orange County, Uptake hired a number of veterans in the local medical device industry, including Chief Financial Officer J.C. MacRae, who previously worked for Irvine-based heart valve maker CoreValve Inc. as chief financial officer; and Lloyd Mencinger, general manager for Europe, whose background includes a stint at Baxter International Inc., which has significant OC operations, with about 300 employees here.
Uptake, which has about 50 employees, is going after a large market with its InterVapor device. Figures from the National Emphy-sema Foundation in Norwalk, Conn., indicate that some 3 million Americans have emphysema.
Some 11.2 million Americans have the condition or related conditions such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or COPD, according to the National Emphysema Foun-dation.
It’s expensive to treat, costing U.S. insurers, governments and healthcare providers some $5 billion to $9 billion a year. Custom-ary treatments include inhalers, oxygen, medications and surgery to relieve symptoms and prevent complications.
Uptake plans to sell its devices to interventional pulmonologists and thoracic surgeons. It will use a mix of direct salespeople and distributors, and plans to use contract manufacturers to make the device.
Backers
The company’s backers include Maverick Capital of Dallas, which led a $17.5 million round of venture funding in 2010. Other investors include GBS Venture Partners of Australia; Menlo Park-based Onset Ven-tures; WRF Capital in Seattle; Ann Arbor, Mich.-based Arboretum Ventures; and Af-finity Capital of Minneapolis.
Uptake has raised some $35 million since it started in 2004.
In July, the company raised $4.9 million in a private offering of debt, options and warrants.
Chief Executive Nelson spent 19 years with American Hospital Supply Corp. and Baxter before taking the helm at Uptake.
Nelson also was chief executive of VenPro Corp., an Irvine-based developer of replacement heart valves and other valves for treating vein diseases. Minneapolis-based Medtronic Inc. bought VenPro’s heart valve business in 2001.
