Inspire Medical Systems Completes $17 Million Series B...( Second generation implantable device ...),Health

Second generation implantable device utilizes electrical stimulation to prevent airway closure during sleep

MINNEAPOLIS, June 8 /PRNewswire/ -- Inspire Medical Systems, Inc., a private medical device company, today announced it has completed a Series B financing of $17 million. Earlier in 2009, Inspire announced the first human implant of its Inspire II system designed to treat Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA). Since this announcement, Inspire continued to implant patients into parallel clinical trials being conducted in the United States and in Europe with several implants in each location to date.

Synergy Life Science Partners were the lead investors. Other participants in the round included existing investors Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, US Venture Partners, Medtronic, Inc., and Dr. Glen D. Nelson through GDN Holdings. The Series B financing is over two phases with the primary purpose to fund the on-going clinical activity.

It is estimated that one in fifteen adults has moderate to severe OSA(1). People with OSA experience recurrent blockage of their upper airway during sleep, resulting in frequent arousals from sleep and reduced oxygen levels in the blood. This happens in patients with OSA because the muscles that normally hold the airway open during wakefulness relax during sleep and allow the airway to collapse. When the airway is partially closed and/or the muscles relax too much, inhalation can completely close the airway, resulting in an obstructive sleep apnea event. Depending on the degree of severity, OSA is a potentially life-threatening condition. According to a recent report(2) from the National Center on Sleep Disorders Research and the National Institute of Health, someone who has undiagnosed or is non-compliant to treatment of their sleep apnea is significantly more likely to have a heart attack, a stroke, cardiac arrest during sleep, or a harmful accident.

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