Aortyx has recently closed a €13.8 million Series A funding round, supported by Ship2B Ventures through the BSocial Impact Fund (backed by Banc Sabadell, EIF and AXIS), Clave Capital, Nara Capital, CDTI Innvierte, the EIC Fund and others.
Aortic dissection (AD) is an extremely severe and often fatal medical emergency. It occurs when the inner layer of the aorta (the body’s main artery) tears, allowing blood to flow between the layers of the artery wall, creating an imminent risk of rupture. The consequences can be dramatic: massive internal bleeding, multi-organ failure and, in many cases, death.
Aortyx was founded to address this urgent healthcare challenge, focusing specifically on aortic dissection, which currently affects more than 50,000 people in Europe. The treatments available today have not been specifically designed to address this highly complex condition, resulting in very high mortality and complication rates. Existing treatment options, such as open surgery or endovascular stenting, are invasive and risky, or simply ineffective. Other alternatives include lowering blood pressure, which is not a long-term solution and merely delays the onset of more severe symptoms.
source: Aortic Dissection Awareness
To better understand the urgency of the challenge Aortyx is addressing, there are currently three main therapeutic approaches:
- Open surgical repair: mainly for Type A (TAAD), highly invasive, with hospital mortality rates of 20–30%.
- Thoracic Endovascular Aortic Repair (TEVAR): more common for Type B (TBAD), based on the implantation of endovascular stents. While less invasive, it is not suitable for all cases.
- Medical therapy: in many Type B patients, pharmacological stabilisation is chosen, but still carries a five-year mortality rate of 50%.
In summary, aortic dissection remains a highly complex clinical condition, with limited treatment options, significant surgical risks and a large proportion of patients for whom existing solutions are not suitable.
Aortyx: Biomedical innovation to transform aortic dissection treatment
In response to this situation, Aortyx has developed a disruptive solution that may radically change the treatment paradigm: a steerable catheter that navigates the aorta and deploys a bioabsorbable patch specifically designed to repair the dissection in a minimally invasive manner.
The Aortyx device introduces several key innovations:
- Localised vascular adhesion: the patch firmly adheres to the aortic wall through a bioactive adhesive, preventing implant migration and allowing the tear to be sealed without needing extensive anchoring zones.
- Advanced biomimicry: its microtextured structure mimics the mechanical properties of the aorta, promoting natural vessel healing while minimising complications.
- Patented deployment system: a catheter with a flower-shaped mechanism allows for controlled and precise release of the patch at the exact site of the lesion.
- Progressive bioresorption: unlike stents, the body absorbs the patch as the vascular wall regenerates.
This funding round aims to reach first-in-human trials within two years. The technology has already been successfully tested in animal models and cadavers.
The founding team consists of three researchers from IQS School of Engineering, Jordi Martorell, Noemí Balà, Salvador Borrós, and the Head of Vascular Surgery at Hospital Clínic Barcelona, Vicenç Riambau. The product has already generated significant interest, as demonstrated by the backing of Hospital Clínic, investment from a leading aortic device manufacturer, and publications in peer-reviewed scientific journals.
“We are changing the paradigm of aortic dissection and focal aortic disease treatments, leveraging our combined expertise in fluid dynamics, biomechanics, vascular biology, and minimally invasive surgery.” Jordi Martorell, Co-founder and CEO of Aortyx.
Our commitment at Ship2B Ventures
At Ship2B Ventures, we seek to invest in solutions that, through innovation, can generate transformative and lasting impact on society’s most pressing social and environmental challenges.
Aortyx’s approach transcends technological innovation. Its positive impact extends to multiple dimensions:
- Health and quality of life: it makes it possible to treat patients who are currently hopeless or at unacceptable risk, offering a safe, minimally invasive option that significantly improves survival and quality of life in the long term.
- Complications reduction: As it is bioabsorbable, it eliminates late complications associated with permanent devices (re-interventions, infections, migrations…, etc.), improving patiens’ quality of life.
- Accessibility for more patients: it broadens treatment eligibility to profiles that cannot currently undergo surgery or stenting, including the elderly, high-risk patients or those with complex anatomies.
- Potential for global scalability: addresses a worldwide underserved medical need, with an estimated annual incidence of 2 to 6 cases per 100,000 people.
- Optimization of healthcare costs: reduces hospital stays, re-interventions and intensive use of critical resources, contributing to the sustainability of healthcare systems.
“We are supporting Aortyx because it has the potential to revolutionise cardiovascular medicine. They are developing a solution that is not only disruptive and technically brilliant, but also driven by a clear social mission: to save lives where today there are barely any options. Led by an exceptional team with a bold vision, they have the potential to change forever the way we treat aortic dissections.” Jordi Ferrer, Investment Director at Ship2B Ventures.
For all these reasons, we are proud to accompany their team on this transformative journey. We are convinced that their innovation can save thousands of lives, improve patients’ quality of life, and become the new standard of care for aortic dissection.