Dive Brief:

• Okami Medical has raised $45 million to commercialize medical devices for stopping blood flow, the company said last week. 
• The company has developed technology that it claims could make vascular embolization faster and better. It competes with embolization coils such as Boston Scientific’s Interlock and Terumo’s Azur.
• Okami named Drew Hykes as CEO in conjunction with the financing. Hykes was previously CEO of Inari Medical, which was in the same incubator as Okami before being acquired by Stryker for $4.9 billion.

Dive Insight:

Okami and Inari both emerged from the Inceptus Medical incubator, which has supported the first steps of at least 10 companies that went on to be acquired. Okami developed devices based on a braiding method that uses wires that are one-quarter the thickness of a human hair. Okami braids the wires to form a dense structure that effectively blocks blood flow. 

The Food and Drug Administration granted 510(k) clearance to Okami’s Lobo system based on the technology in 2019. Okami later received clearances for Lobo devices designed for different vessel sizes and various versions of its Sendero delivery catheter.

While physicians can pack vessels with coils until they block blood flow, Lobo must match the size of the target vein or artery. The design has enabled physicians to block a vessel within 30 seconds using one Lobo device and for Okami to claim an average time to occlusion of 90 seconds.

Okami has calculated that its single device design is more cost effective than coils. Quoting real-world data, the company said using Lobo instead of detachable coils can save between $373 and $2,041 per case. The embolization market is also served by vascular plugs such as Abbott’s Amplatzer.

Responsibility for establishing Okami in a market dominated by large companies with broad portfolios of cardiovascular devices will fall on Hykes. The new CEO worked at Medtronic early in his career and later held several C-suite positions at Inari. Hykes became Inari’s CEO at the start of 2023. While Hykes contended with problems, including a recall, he ultimately led the company to a buyout.

At Okami, Hykes will begin with $45 million from investors including Gilde Healthcare, Vensana Capital and U.S. Venture Partners to bankroll his plans. The company plans to use the money to grow its commercial footprint and fund clinical programs.