BY MARA LEE
A New Haven medical device company that moved from Virginia in 2010 has received its second $1 million investment from Connecticut Innovations in as many years.
EpiEP Inc., which makes a device that verifies the outside surface of the heart has been accessed in order to treat arrhythmia, is in clinical trials in Europe. It has successfully completed animal trials at the Mayo Clinic.
In June 2010, when the governor’s office announced the company would relocate from Virginia, EpiEP projected it would hire eight people by June 2011. It now has a staff of two, up from one when it moved to New Haven.
EpiEP Chief Executive Officer Pamela Bunes said, “We are delighted by the continued support and confidence we have received from Connecticut Innovations. Their leadership and early-stage investments in companies like EpiEP allow Connecticut to attract life science and technology startups to the state.”
At the same time that the quasi-public, state-funded CI invested $1 million, EpiEP received $600,000 in private venture capital. The state is borrowing $25 million this year to send more cash to CI for investments such as this one.
The technology, developed at the University of Virginia, has been licensed from that public university. The company plans to develop a commercial application if it gets good results from its clinical trials.