A Memphis-based device company has received a $4.6 million investment for its latest product. Ariste Medical has received the funding to continue development of a drug-eluting hernia mesh intended to reduce the risk of intra-abdominal infection. After hernia surgery, the risk of infection ranges from 8 percent to 40 percent, depending on complexity of the case.
Ariste Medical was founded in 2007 by Timothy Fabian and Lisa Jennings, head of the Department of Surgery and the University of Tennessee Health Science Center and professor in the school’s Department of Medicine, respectively.
Jennings also founded CirQuest Labs, which does contract research. The company is based at the Memphis Bioworks Foundation.
Ariste received $1.275 million in seed funding in 2012 for work on multiple patents and development of products that needed 510(k) clearance through the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The latest funding will support continued testing and regulatory findings in order to prepare the mesh for clearance in the U.S. and Europe.