Nyxoah SA, a medical device company focused on the development and commercialization of a hypoglossal nerve stimulation (HGNS) therapy for the treatment of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), has raised an additional €15 million ($17.1 million USD) in its most recent round of equity financing.

The financing was led by Cochlear Ltd, an Australian medical device and implantable hearing solutions company. Cochlear invested €13 million and the round was completed by several existing Nyxoah shareholders. A representative of Cochlear has joined the Nyxoah Board.

Robert Taub, chairman of the Nyxoah board, says in a release, “We are extremely pleased to welcome Cochlear as a new investor. Their board-level participation will accelerate Nyxoah’s vision of becoming a leader in OSA therapy.”

Jan Janssen, chief technology officer of Cochlear, says, “Cochlear actively monitors the market for novel technologies and implantable devices that over the long term may leverage its core business. Nyxoah’s minimally invasive solution presents an attractive alternative for patients with compliance or intolerance issues in respect of existing therapies. We look forward to working with Nyxoah.”

Nyxoah recently completed the BLAST-OSA (BiLAteral Hypoglossal Nerve Stimulation for Treatment of Obstructive Sleep Apnea) clinical study, an essential milestone for its CE marking dossier already submitted to the European regulatory body.

“Patients from the BLAST OSA study show a major improvement in sleep apnea symptoms including a significant reduction of ODI (oxygen desaturation index) and AHI (apnea hypopnea index),” says Enrique Vega, CEO of Nyxoah SA. “The Nyxoah therapy was also associated with high patient compliance and improvements in patient quality of life. We look forward to publishing the clinical results in a leading medical journal during 2019.”

The additional financing will be used to initiate post-CE Mark European market development activities and to work toward Investigational Device Exemption (IDE) with the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).