Sapheon has announced that it has submitted the second module of the pre-market approval (PMA) application for the VenaSeal Sapheon Closure System to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). According to the company, the submission, which was completed on 18 December 2013, “represents steady progress on the modular PMA application for VenaSeal, a minimally invasive, single use kit intended for the treatment of venous reflux disease”. The first module, submitted in September 2013, was reviewed by the FDA and accepted without deficiencies within a single review cycle.
VenaSeal is currently under clinical investigation in a 1:1 randomised pivotal study (the VeClose study) to determine its safety and effectiveness compared to radiofrequency thermal ablation. The VeClose Study, authorized under an FDA-approved investigational device exemption (IDE), has clinical investigators at 10 sites in the USA for the treatment of 242 study patients and was fully enrolled in September 2013. The company expects the three-month assessments of patients enrolled in the VeClose study to be completed this month and the study’s primary efficacy endpoint of vein closure, as adjudicated by an independent core laboratory, to be reported shortly thereafter.
Sapheon also announced full subscription to its US$10 million bridge convertible note financing. The offering, which was introduced at the October 2013 OCTANe Medical Device & Investor Forum, was fully subscribed within six weeks as a result of strong interest by the company’s existing investors.
“2013 was an exciting year for Sapheon,” said Don Crawford, president and CEO. “In 2014, the focus for our team is on preparations for a 2015 US product launch and eventual market leadership in the treatment of venous reflux disease.”
Sapheon is also sponsoring two other VenaSeal studies: a 70-patient European post-market evaluation at seven sites within Germany, the UK, The Netherlands and Denmark that completed enrolment in September 2012; and a 38-patient feasibility study conducted in the Dominican Republic that completed enrolment in July 2011. The company has agreed to continue to follow the patients in these two studies for a period of three years. The clinical data collected in these studies will be used to support the PMA application as well as reimbursement in markets outside the United States.
The VenaSeal Sapheon Closure System received CE mark approval in September 2011. Since that time, VenaSeal has been used to treat over 1,700 veins in patients in Europe and Hong Kong without tumescent anaesthesia or post-procedure compression hose therapy. The VenaSeal Sapheon Closure System is limited to investigational use within the United States.
