CERMA, a French emerging medical technology company specialised in the development of innovative and minimally invasive devices in phlebology and oncology, announced the creation of spin-off Cermavein. Cermavein was launched to expand commercialisation of its proprietary Steam Vein Sclerosis (SVS) technology for endovenous thermal ablation.
SVS is the only product on the market to treat all types of varicose veins in a single session. Patients need only visit the clinic once; physicians save time on procedures, and capacity at the treatment centre is freed up more rapidly.
“The SVS technology has been proven to be simple to use in clinical practice, because our technology is flexible and our catheter can be easily introduced into all veins, making the procedure easy for physicians to carry out,” commented Dr Sophie Humbert, CEO of Cermavein.
“We have a great opportunity to fill a genuine unmet medical need in many markets and thanks to our technology’s features, the size of our potential market is significantly increased. For example, in the US, 75 per cent of patients need multiple treatments that now could be done in one single session using SVS,” informed Dr Humbert.
Professor Martino Neumann of Erasmus University Medical Centre, Rotterdam, the Netherlands said, “SVS is probably the treatment of choice for the future. It is a very simple and smart approach with no chemicals, no radiation, just water. SVS avoids carbonisation, associated with pain and complications, a frequent result of other endovenous thermal ablation techniques.”
Pulses of steam are delivered directly into the vein, allowing a homogenous diffusion of heat, which then causes the shrinking of the vein wall and the definitive obliteration of the vein.
Cermavein’s SVS system is currently marketed in France, Germany, Spain, The Netherlands, Scandinavia, Israel, Romania and the Baltic States. It has recently been approved for marketing in Canada. Cermavein has recently completed a first round of fund raising to consolidate its existing markets and is preparing a second round financing for the roll-out and expansion of its business.
Varicose veins are swollen, twisted, and sometimes painful veins that have filled with an abnormal collection of blood. With varicose veins, the valves do not function properly, left untreated, in addition to bad quality of life for people suffering from the condition, varicose veins can cause severe complications, including blood clots, ulcers and necrosis.
Varicose veins have traditionally been treated with surgery (stripping), sclerotherapy and endovenous thermal ablation. With SVS, physicians can offer patients a one-time, minimally invasive, significantly less painful ambulatory procedure that is successful on all forms of varicose veins (saphenous, tributary and recurrences).
SVS treatment can be applied by vascular surgeons, phlebologists, angiologists or dermatologists in a simple, sterile environment under local anaesthesia.