Hotspur Technologies

Hotspur Technologies, Inc. was a medical device company focused on developing catheter-based technologies to restore blood flow in patients with obstructed vessels. Founded in 2008 by Fred Khosravi and located in Mountain View, California, the company operated within the vascular access market. Khosravi, a co-founder, is also a managing member of the medical device incubator Incept LLC, which was instrumental in establishing Hotspur and other ventures like AccessClosure and Sadra Medical. His background involves successfully leading several medical device companies to commercial success or acquisition.

The company's business revolved around designing, manufacturing, and commercializing multi-function catheters for medical professionals, specifically interventional radiologists, cardiologists, and surgeons. Hotspur's core technological asset was the VisioValve™ Injection System, a patented valve technology that enabled physicians to perform multiple procedures, such as angioplasty and fluid injection, with a single catheter, thereby avoiding the need for device exchanges. This approach was intended to reduce procedure times and costs, improving efficiency for physicians and making treatments less invasive for patients. The market for these devices, including dialysis access and peripheral percutaneous transluminal angioplasty (PTA) balloons, was estimated to be around $1.0 billion worldwide.

Hotspur developed a portfolio of products based on the VisioValve™ system, receiving FDA 510(k) clearance and CE Mark approval for several devices. These included the GPSCath® Balloon Dilatation Catheter, a two-in-one device for angioplasty and fluid injection; the IQCath® Balloon Dilatation Catheter, a three-in-one device that added embolectomy capabilities; and the Keeper® Embolectomy Catheter. These products were commercially available in the United States and aimed at treatments for peripheral arterial disease (PAD) and maintaining dialysis access grafts. After raising a total of $10.7 million over six funding rounds from investors including ONSET Ventures, Incept, and BioStar Ventures, Hotspur Technologies was acquired by Teleflex Incorporated on July 18, 2012, for an upfront payment of $15 million, with potential additional payments based on milestones.

Keywords: catheter technology, vascular access, percutaneous transluminal angioplasty, balloon dilatation catheter, medical device, VisioValve, Fred Khosravi, Teleflex acquisition, angioplasty, embolectomy, dialysis access, peripheral vascular disease, interventional radiology, medical technology, vascular intervention, minimally invasive, Incept LLC, ONSET Ventures, GPSCath, IQCath, Keeper Catheter