Allurion Technologies, the maker of a medical device supporting weight loss, has successfully repaid a loan it got from the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center in 2011, interest included.
After a successful funding round from private investors, the Natick company was able to pay back the $1,115,824 loan it owed to MLSC, the company announced Friday. They received a loan of $750,000 in 2011 and paid it back plus interest.
When Allurion received the loan, it had three employees and was still developing its technology, according to a press release. Today, the company has more than 20 employees in Massachusetts and sells its Elipse gastric balloon in select weight-loss centers in Italy, Belgium, Greece, France, the U.K., Spain, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar. The product does not yet have U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval, but a clinical trial is planned for this year in the states that could lead to such approval.
“The accelerator loan from the MLSC did exactly what we needed – it accelerated our development and allowed us to build a case for traditional private investment,” Jonathan Wecker, Allurion’s chairman and CEO, said in a statement. “We are grateful to the MLSC for its early confidence in our potential and are proud to have returned the funds, with interest, to the commonwealth.”
