SAN DIEGO, Oct. 6 /PRNewswire/ -- Accumetrics, Inc., developer and marketer of the VerifyNow(R) System, the first rapid and easy-to-use diagnostic system for measuring an individual’s response to multiple antiplatelet agents, announced today that it has completed a round of financing that will raise $16.5 million in new capital. The capital infusion, which will fully finance the company into 2011, came from the company’s existing investors, including Arnerich Massena, BBT Fund/Apothecary Capital, Essex Woodlands Health Ventures, Kaiser Permanente Ventures and RiverVest Venture Partners.
Accumetrics’ VerifyNow System helps physicians assess their patients’ response to life-saving antiplatelet therapies, such as aspirin, Plavix(R), Effient(TM) and GP IIb/IIIa inhibitors. Patients respond to antiplatelet medications differently; patients with impaired response may be at significantly greater risk for death, heart attack or stroke(1-4). The VerifyNow System helps physicians rapidly determine an individual patient’s response to his or her therapy, without the usual time lag for laboratory analysis. Doctors use this information to ensure their patients are receiving the optimal treatment. Over 80 million people in the U.S. have heart disease(5), 50 million are on chronic aspirin therapy(6), and more than 25 million prescriptions are written annually for Plavix, the second largest selling drug worldwide(7).
“We have an outstanding group of investors who believe in our technology and our market opportunity and are encouraged by the execution of our 2009 plan. We look at 2010 as a breakthrough year for Accumetrics, and are pleased to be very well capitalized as we enter this important period in our history,” said Timothy I. Still, President and CEO of Accumetrics.
Tony Arnerich, Accumetrics’ Chairman of the Board and the largest shareholder in Accumetrics, stated, “This is a very effective management team, and we view the VerifyNow platform as a breakthrough technology in one of the most important remaining areas of cardio-diagnostics. We felt it was very important to ensure the financial stability necessary to allow this excellent team to execute on their ambitious business plan.”
The capital will be funded in two closing transactions, with the first in 2009 and the second in 2010. Accumetrics reported that these proceeds will fund the completion of a number of key milestones planned for 2010 including expanded claims for existing products, new product development and continued expansion of its commercialization efforts both internationally and within the United States.
About Accumetrics (www.accumetrics.com)
Accumetrics is committed to advancing medical understanding of platelet function and enhancing quality of care for patients receiving antiplatelet therapies by providing industry-leading and widely accessible diagnostic tests for rapid platelet function assessment.
Accumetrics’ VerifyNow System is the first rapid and easy to use platform to help physicians determine an individual’s response to multiple antiplatelet agents. Addressing every major antiplatelet drug, including FDA-cleared products for aspirin, P2Y12 inhibitors (e.g. prasugrel (Effient) and clopidogrel (Plavix)), and GP IIb/IIIa inhibitors (e.g. ReoPro(R) and Integrilin(R)), the VerifyNow System provides a valuable tool to help physicians make informed treatment decisions.
The Accumetrics logo and VerifyNow are registered trademarks of Accumetrics, Inc. ReoPro is a registered trademark of Centocor, Inc. Integrilin is a registered trademark of Millennium Pharmaceuticals. Plavix is a registered trademark of sanofi-aventis. Effient is a trademark of Lilly-Daiichi Sankyo.
SOURCE Accumetrics, Inc.
CONTACT: Megan Rusnack of Lippert/Heilshorn & Associates, +1-212-838-3777,
mrusnack@lhai.com, for Accumetrics; or Timothy I. Still, President and CEO
of Accumetrics, +1-858-404-8260, press@accumetrics.com
Web site: http://www.accumetrics.com/
