Biotech CorMatrix Cardiovascular Raises $15 Million for Heart Failure Treatment

Atlanta Business Chronicle by Urvaksh Karkaria, Staff Writer

An Alpharetta biotech company, on whose board former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush sits, has raised more than $15 million, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing.

Privately held CorMatrix Cardiovascular Inc. is developing biomaterial devices that harnesses the body’s innate ability to repair damaged heart tissue.

The $15 million, part of a $25 million planned raise, will be used for a variety of cardiovascular applications, including a treatment to repair damaged heart muscle due to congestive heart failure. The money will be invested in research and development and to grow the sales force.

CorMatrix has developed a device that acts like a scaffold into which the patient’s stem cells migrate and integrate, stimulating the body’s wound-healing mechanisms to repair tissue at the site of implantation.

As the patient’s cells populate the matrix, they lay down their own collagen, which matures over time to repair the damaged tissue. The implanted material is gradually replaced and reabsorbed by the body as the patient’s tissue is remodeled into that specific tissue type.

CorMatrix’s products have been implanted in more than 40,000 patients.

Company executives listed in the SEC filing were CEO David Camp, Beecher Lewis, Robert Matheny; and John Thomas.

CorMatrix directors are Jeb Bush; Richard Ferrari, with Menlo Park, Calif.-based De Novo Ventures; Jason Aryeh, of Greenwich, Conn.-based Jalaa Equities and Blane Crutchfiled of Mobile, Ala.

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