Vertos Medical Inc., a leader in the minimally invasive treatment of lumbar spinal stenosis (LSS), announced today it has completed a $28 million financing round. New investor, MVM Life Science Partners LLP, led the round with participation from existing investors Leerink Revelation Partners, Pitango Venture Capital, ONSET Ventures, and Aweida Venture Partners. Proceeds of the financing will be used to expand commercialization of the company's proprietary mild procedure, a clinically proven outpatient procedure that removes the cause of the stenosis through a portal the size of a baby aspirin and requires no implants, no general anesthesia, no stitches, and no overnight hospital stay.

In December 2016, Vertos Medical received broad coverage from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) for mild. Vertos Medical will use the latest round of funding to help meet the strong demand for the procedure from providers and patients. Funding will also be used to support physician training and education designed to expand access to the novel treatment for appropriate patients.

"There are millions of patients currently suffering from the debilitating effects of lumbar spinal stenosis who are looking for new treatment options that are safe, effective, and treat the underlying cause of stenosis," said Eric Wichems, President and CEO of Vertos Medical. "We are pleased that we are able to expand access to the mild procedure with the help of MVM and our current investors."

In addition to leading this latest round, MVM partner Hugo Harrod will join the board of directors of Vertos Medical. Harrod, who has been with MVM since 2005, has extensive board-level experience at pharmaceutical and device companies.

"The proven, low-cost, and safe mild solution stands to benefit the more than 2.4 million Americans who are expected to suffer from LSS by 2021," Harrod said. "MVM is excited to join with Vertos Medical in extending access to this unique clinical solution for patients living with the debilitating symptoms associated with LSS."

The mild procedure has been studied in more than 20 peer-reviewed publications and 12 clinical trials and has been performed on more than 20,000 patients. Peer-reviewed clinical data has proven the procedure's strong safety profile and demonstrated that mild helps patients suffering from LSS stand longer and walk farther with less pain. 1

Vertos Medical Inc. is a medical device company committed to developing innovative, minimally invasive treatments for lumbar spinal stenosis (LSS). Its proprietary technologies include mild, which offers a safe, outpatient, minimally invasive, fluoroscopically guided therapeutic LSS treatment that requires no general anesthesia, no implants, and no stitches. LSS is primarily a degenerative, age-related narrowing of the lower spinal canal that causes symptoms of pain and numbness in the lower back, legs, or buttocks. The mild procedure treats this condition by restoring space in the spinal canal using specialized mild devices to remove hypertrophic ligamentum flavum through a 5.1-mm treatment portal. Clinical studies show that mild can help LSS patients stand longer and walk farther with less pain1, and no major device-related complications have been reported in any clinical trial.2 Vertos Medical headquarters is located in Aliso Viejo, CA. To learn more about how mild treats LSS click here.

MVM Life Science Partners LLP, founded in 1997, is a healthcare investment firm with offices in London and Boston. MVM is currently investing from its fourth fund, which has $233M in commitments and broad interests across drugs, devices, and diagnostics.