YORKSHIRE EXPERTS COLLABORATE TO DEVELOP NEW CORONARY TECHNOLOGY

The Investing in Health programme provides healthcare companies in Yorkshire & Humber with the knowledge, advice, tools and resources needed to access funding from national and international investors. The programme also gives advice to companies looking at ways of raising other types of finance such as bank debt, asset based lending and sales finance.

 

Background

Leeds-based medical device company, Arterius Ltd is one of only a handful of companies working towards creating a biodegradable coronary stent. The device aims to significantly cut the cost of heart disease treatment in the UK and across the globe.

 

Founders of Arterius Ltd, Kadem Al-Lamee and Alistair Taylor, joined forces in 2009 to combine their wealth of experience in the stent industry to design a truly innovative product. Alistair was co-founder and chairman of Oxfordshire-based Lombard Medical which bought Kadem Al-Lamee’s company Polybiomed, a developer of coatings for medical devices, in 2001. During his time at Polybiomed Kadem invented and developed stent coatings and other technologies, which are now being acquired by Bayer. Alistair was also the CEO of Schneider AG which developed the first ever stent.

 

Objective

Kadem Al-Lamee and Alistair Taylor, founders of Arterius Ltd, are seeking £3m investment to fulfil plans to enter Phase 1 clinical trials with a view to bring the product to market.

 

 

 

 

Implementation

Kadem has benefited from various networking opportunities through the Investing in Health programme, which have helped him to increase his contacts and secure interest from potential investors. The programme has also helped Arterius to evaluate their business plan; Kadem attended workshops and practise pitch sessions to allow him to perfect his investor presentation. Alistair was invited by Grant Thornton to attend a dinner in London, where he was given the opportunity to network with key national investors.

 

Kadem Al-Lamee, co-founder of Arterius, commented on his experience of the programme: “The team behind the Investing in Health programme has been invaluable in introducing us to potential investors, both nationally and internationally. They have also helped us shape our business plan so that we can approach investors with a solid proposition.”

 

Progress

The development of the device has been entirely self-funded so far and Kadem and Alistair are now looking for significant investment to enable them to enter Phase 1 clinical trials. Arterius Ltd has gained the support from three UK universities and prototypes will be developed by Professor Phil Coates and his team at The University of Bradford, IRC in Polymer Engineering.

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