The developer of a unique disposable tourniquet, ASep Healthcare, has secured a GBP120,000 investment from The North West Fund for Biomedical, managed by SPARK Impact.
ASep Healthcare, currently based in South Kensington, London, but due to move to Liverpool Science Park, developed an award winning disposable tourniquet designed to prevent cross infection between patients.
The company was previously backed by Imperial Innovations, which builds and invests in promising technology and healthcare companies.
The North West Fund for Biomedical is part of the wider GBP155m North West Fund, financed jointly by the European Regional Development Fund and the European Investment Bank.
The funding will be used by ASep to expand UK, EU and US sales of its product, the Tournistrip, and to introduce a second product into international markets.
The Tournistrip is the only medical tourniquet to have been clinically trialled, which involved two London Teaching Hospitals, 226 patients and 20 phlebotomists.
Alan Edwards, chairman and chief executive of ASep, says: “ASep Healthcare is delighted to receive investment from the fund. Our sales have increased by 100 per cent per year for the past three years and the investment is being targeted at continuing to grow sales of Tournistrip and introduce our second product into the marketplace.”
Dr Penny Attridge, senior investment director at SPARK Impact and manager of The North West Fund for Biomedical, says: “This award winning product has the potential to make a real difference to infection control and phlebotomy. ASep’s Tournistrip is already doing remarkably well in the UK market and we’re delighted to be helping them progress further.”
