GALWAY MEDICAL device company Novate Medical has closed an €8.7 million round of investment led by Crédit Agricole Private Equity and Dublin venture capital firm Seroba Kernel Life Sciences.

Existing investors ACT Venture Capital and Seroba Bioventures, who first invested in Novate Medical in a series A round in 2007, also participated in this round.

Novate said it would use the investment to finance clinical trials and development of its lead medical device product so that it could be approved for sale in the US and European markets.

Novate has developed an “inferior vena cava” filter device (IVC filter) which prevents the development of pulmonary embolism, a condition suffered by more than 1.2 million people in the US and Europe each year and which may account for as many as half a million deaths annually.

Although widely associated with deep vein thrombosis brought on by long-haul flights, pulmonary embolism is a major risk for many people who undergo surgery each year.

IVC filters are designed to capture clots and prevent them reaching the lungs but, unlike competing offerings, Novate’s products are designed to degrade in the body with no need for a secondary procedure to remove them.

Bruno Montanari from Crédit Agricole Private Equity and Daniel O’Mahony of Seroba Kernel will both join the board of Novate.

Mr Montanari said he considered Novate’s new device a “winning solution to a very serious patient need”.

Crédit Agricole Private Equity has funds of €3.3 billion under management. Seroba Kernel has a portfolio of 17 investments, with €100 million under management

Novate employs 12 staff in Galway and another four at a sales operation in Britain.

The company was founded in Galway in 2006 by Chas Taylor and Paul Gilson, who have considerable experience in medical device development.