Signum Surgical raises €2.9M in funding

Signum Surgical, a Galway-based EIT Health-supported start-up has secured €2.9M investment. The round was led by Halo Business Angel Network’s MedTech Syndicate, a joint initiative by Enterprise Ireland, InterTrade Ireland and Invest Northern Ireland, among others.

Signum Surgical has developed novel minimally invasive technologies to treat colorectal diseases such as anal fistula. This latest funding will be used to support ongoing regulatory and clinical programmes leading to the commercialization of Signum Surgical’s BioHealx^TM device.

Each year approximately 90,000 surgical procedures are performed to treat anal fistula in the US alone. An anal fistula is an artificial tunnel between the rectum and skin of the buttocks that can develop due to an infected or blocked anal gland. If left untreated, an abscess may form, and the infection may travel through the patient’s sphincter muscle causing much discomfort and risking incontinence.

Signum Surgical was founded by Eoin Bambury and Moshe Zilversmit in 2016 during the University of Galway’s BioInnovate Fellowship Programme, which is supported by EIT Health. The team has developed the BioHealx^TMdevice. This enables surgeons to treat anal fistula with a minimally invasive outpatient procedure, featuring a single use, bioabsorbable implant that is designed to close the fistula tract and dissolve in the body after treatment.

“BioHealxTM technology has the potential to eliminate the need for multiple surgeries and substantially reduce surgical trauma and healing time, while reducing cost for patients and the overall health care system. In 2017, EIT Health recognised the potential Signum Surgical’s product could have on transforming the lives of patients with debilitating colorectal diseases, and we congratulate the team on their latest investment success,” said Marc Butterly, Business Creation Lead at EIT Health Ireland-UK.

Signum Surgical was awarded grant funding by EIT Health in 2017 through the Headstart programme after spinning out from BioInnovate in 2016.

“At Signum Surgical our aim is to provide patients with a single-operation approach that is designed to promote healing, prevent reinfection, and protect patient continence,” said Eoin Bambury, CTO and Co-Founder at Signum Surgical. “The grant funding and mentorship we received from EIT Health through the Headstart programme greatly helped us in those early days to get our innovation off the ground. With this latest round of funding we plan to take the next steps to commercialize our BioHealx^TM technology.”

This financing round reflects continued momentum and support for Signum, which successfully raised €2.6 million in 2016 and a further €3.6 million in 2019.