DULUTH, Georgia, August 12, 2026
Bridge to Life Ltd., a medical technology company specializing in organ preservation and perfusion technologies, has raised $110 million through a Series C equity and debt financing to accelerate commercialization of its VitaSmart™ Hypothermic Oxygenated Perfusion (HOPE) System, expand its product pipeline, and strengthen its position in organ transplantation. The financing was led by Soleus Capital, with participation from Lauxera Capital Partners, while debt financing was provided by Soleus Capital Credit Opportunities Fund. Bridge to Life said the proceeds will support commercial expansion across U.S. transplant centers, development of an organ viability assessment tool, additional organ preservation technologies, and global operations.
VitaSmart™ Drives Expansion in Liver Transplantation
The financing comes after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted De Novo clearance to the VitaSmart™ HOPE System in January 2026. According to Bridge to Life, VitaSmart is the first and only hypothermic oxygenated perfusion system authorized by the FDA for use in liver transplantation. The system is designed to provide oxygenated perfusion of donor livers under hypothermic conditions, supporting organ preservation and potentially helping transplant teams evaluate and utilize donor organs. Bridge to Life said the commercial rollout has progressed rapidly since the FDA clearance, with leading academic transplant centers, organ procurement organizations, and high-volume liver transplant programs adopting VitaSmart. The company reported that several customers are first-time adopters of cold perfusion and that repeat orders are contributing to a growing commercial base. Funds from the new financing will allow Bridge to Life to expand its field organization and working capital so it can reach transplant centers throughout the United States. The company highlighted the significant unmet need in transplantation, noting that more than 100,000 patients in the United States are currently awaiting life-saving organ transplants. Technologies that can support preservation and potentially expand the pool of usable donor organs could play an important role in addressing organ shortages and reducing transplant waiting times.
New Organ Viability Tool Targets Transplant Decisions
A major portion of Bridge to Life’s investment strategy involves development of a proprietary organ viability assessment tool intended to provide transplant teams with more objective information when evaluating donor organs. The company said organ acceptance decisions currently rely on factors including visual assessment, donor characteristics, clinical judgment, and, during normothermic perfusion, surrogate indicators such as lactate clearance and bile production. Bridge to Life is developing its technology to provide a science-based assessment of organ viability, with the goal of helping transplant surgeons make more informed decisions about marginal and extended-criteria grafts. If successfully developed and validated, the tool could potentially reduce preventable organ non-use and support greater consistency in organ acceptance decisions across transplant centers. Importantly, the viability assessment technology remains investigational and is not currently cleared for commercial sale. Bridge to Life stated that additional development and investigation will be required before any regulatory or commercial use can be considered.
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Bridge to Life Expands Multi-Organ Pipeline
The remaining financing will support Bridge to Life’s broader organ preservation and perfusion pipeline, with the company planning to expand beyond liver transplantation into additional solid-organ applications over the next three years. The company is also developing next-generation closed systems intended to streamline organ transportation and support its international expansion. The financing also allowed Bridge to Life to refinance its existing credit facility with Perceptive Credit Funds, which the company said will significantly reduce outstanding leverage and lower its interest rate as it transitions from an early development-stage business into a commercial organization. Bridge to Life’s portfolio includes VitaSmart™ and Belzer UW®, a widely used cold static preservation solution for abdominal organ transplantation. The company aims to combine established preservation technologies with next-generation machine perfusion platforms to expand access to organs suitable for transplantation. With the $110 million financing, Bridge to Life is positioned to accelerate VitaSmart commercialization while investing in technologies designed to improve organ preservation, viability assessment, and transplantation across multiple organ types. The company’s strategy centers on increasing the number of donor organs that can potentially reach patients while providing transplant teams with more advanced tools for preservation and clinical decision-making.
Source: Bridge to Life press release
