Obsidio Secures Seed Funding for Universal Gel Embolic Material

Medical materials startup Obsidio, Inc. announced it has completed a seed financing round led by venture capital firm Good Growth Capital's Infinite Corridor Fund. The funding will support the development of a new, "universal" gel material intended for intravascular embolization procedures.

Obsidio's proprietary material is a shear-thinning biomaterial designed to offer advantages over existing products in minimally invasive embolization. This procedure is used to control bleeding, close off vessels supplying tumors, and treat aneurysms. The material permanently occludes blood vessels with high efficacy and is later replaced by natural tissue, leaving no pro-inflammatory foreign material behind.

The biomaterial technology was invented by two of Obsidio's co-founders, brought together by Professor Robert Langer of MIT. Proof-of-concept and preclinical evidence indicates the material is injectable through catheters, hemostatic, withstands physiological pressures, and forms safe occlusions. Obsidio CEO Ehsan Jabbarzadeh highlighted the technology's potential as a "one-size-fits-all" solution across various market segments, including peripheral, neurovascular, and tumor embolization. He noted the technology could overcome shortcomings of current standards of care, such as high rebleeding rates and unpredictable economics.

Amy Salzhauer, Managing Partner at Good Growth Capital, stated the firm is impressed with Obsidio's potential and excited to help the co-founders bring their vision from the lab to the clinic. Obsidio's material is compatible with all imaging techniques and will be available off-the-shelf, eliminating inventory costs associated with varied embolic device sizes. The company was founded in December 2018 with the goal of optimizing embolization's "Iron Triangle" of quality, access, and cost.