Insulin infusion device maker CeQur raises $100 million

LONDON (Reuters) - Privately held company CeQur, which is developing the world’s first three-day insulin infusion device for people with type 2 diabetes, has raised $100 million in a funding round that shows strong investor appetite for hot medical technology.

The deal is the largest medical technology financing in Europe since 2006, according to its backers.

The Swiss-headquartered group said it would use the cash from the so-called series C financing to pay for clinical and regulatory work, as well as to scale up manufacturing and commercial operations ahead of the expected launch of its second-generation PaQ device in 2016.

The patch-like insulin infusion device offers an alternative to daily insulin injections made by the likes of Novo Nordisk (NOVOb.CO), Sanofi (SASY.PA) and Eli Lilly (LLY.N).

The new funding round was led by Woodford Investment Management and Arthurian Life Sciences. Existing investors including Endeavour Vision, Schroder & Co Banque and VI Partners also participated in the round.

CeQur was established in January 2008 and is chaired by Eric Milledge, who previously worked at Johnson & Johnson (JNJ.N) for more than three decades.

(Reporting by Ben Hirschler; Editing by Mark Potter)