3F Therapeutics Inc., a Lake Forest heart device maker, has received $6 million in “insider” commitments toward a $20 million round of venture financing.
“We’re just starting,” said Walter Cuevas, the company’s chief executive.
More news on the financing round,its fifth,could be forthcoming in a couple of weeks, Cuevas said.
3F, which stands for Form Follows Function, has three products, two of which are still in the development stage.
Its first product, the Aortic Bioprosthesis heart valve, is on sale in Europe.
Cuevas expects the device to receive U.S. regulatory approval in mid-2006, he said.
Cuevas said 3F is close to starting clinical studies on the other products, including a minimally invasive heart valve.
3F was founded in 1998. To date, the company has attracted $38.3 million in funding, Cuevas said.
The device maker got a major boost in 2003, when it received $14.2 million in funding led by Boston Scientific Corp., the Natick, Mass.-based medical device company.
Other backers include Domain Associates, a venture capital firm with offices in Laguna Niguel and Princeton, N.J., Cardiac Concepts of Little Rock, Ark., and 3i Bioscience of London.
