RALEIGH, NC – St. Jude Medical Inc. has invested $15 million in Raleigh-based Micell Technologies to help the company expand use of its stent coating technology into potential new medical applications.

Arthur J. Benvenuto, chairman and CEO of Micell, said in a statement, “We are excited to have a company of St. Jude Medical’s stature make an investment in Micell. We look forward to collaborating with them to expand the use of our coating technology into potentially new applications for medical device products.”

Micell raised $5 million in new equity last month and according to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, is seeking an additional $300,000 in that round.

The company raised a $7 million A round in 2007.

Investors in the company include Invemed Catalyst Fund, GE Pension Plan and Archibald Cox.

St. Jude, based in St. Paul, MN, is focused on cardiovascular treatments, including cardiac rhythm management, atrial fibrillation, cardiovascular and neuromodulation.

Micell’s technology delivers cardiovascular drugs via coated stents or other medical devices.

The company previously raised more than $50 million to develop different technologies.

The coated stent tech is the third the company has developed since its inception a decade ago. It originally commercialized a CO2 process develped by Joseph Simone of North Carolina Unversity that led to the development of the Hangers chain in 1999.

It then moved into semiconductors and later into the coated stent technology.

Online: www.micell.com

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