Apreo Health Secures $130M to Advance Lung Scaffold for Emphysema Treatment

Apreo Health, a company focused on developing innovative treatments for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), has successfully raised $130 million in a Series B funding round. This significant investment will support the advancement of their minimally invasive lung scaffold for emphysema, potentially offering new hope for millions of patients worldwide.

Breakthrough Technology and Clinical Promise

Apreo's BREATHE Airway Scaffold represents a novel approach to treating severe emphysema, a subtype of COPD that affects over 3 million people in the United States alone. The self-expanding implant, delivered via bronchoscope, is designed to hold open damaged airways and release trapped air pockets that cause lung hyperinflation in emphysema patients.

Early clinical data presented at the American Thoracic Society conference in San Francisco has shown promising results. In two studies involving 60 patients from Australia and Europe, the BREATHE scaffold demonstrated:

• An average reduction in post-exhalation lung volume of approximately 750 mL at six months post-procedure
• A 92.4% success rate in implant placement
• Improvements in lung function, exercise capacity, and quality of life measures
• No reported cases of pneumothorax (collapsed lung)

These results were simultaneously published in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, adding credibility to the findings.

Funding and Industry Support

The $130 million Series B round was co-led by Bain Capital Life Sciences and Norwest, with participation from F-Prime, Intuitive Ventures, Lightstone Ventures, and Santé Ventures. This substantial investment underscores growing industry confidence in interventional pulmonology and Apreo's technology.

Norwest VP Suraj Shah and General Partner Zack Scott highlighted the expanding opportunities in the field, stating, "The expansion of platforms like Intuitive's ION robot for bronchoscopy has helped democratize access to lung procedures, and we believe that momentum is creating a foundation for broader procedural innovation."

Next Steps and Market Potential

With the new funding, Apreo plans to launch a randomized, controlled trial of their airway scaffold. The company aims to position its technology as a new standard of care for patients with emphysema-related hyperinflation, addressing a significant unmet need in COPD treatment.

Apreo CEO Karun Naga emphasized the potential impact of their technology, stating, "We're developing a minimally invasive, tissue-sparing solution designed to eliminate uncertainty in patient qualification due to disease pattern and collateral ventilation and to relieve the burden of this disease on our healthcare system by enabling a more efficient treatment pathway."

The BREATHE Airway Scaffold received FDA breakthrough designation in 2024, further validating its potential to address critical needs in emphysema treatment. As Apreo moves forward with clinical development, the company's progress could signal a significant shift in the landscape of interventional pulmonology and COPD management.