REDWOOD CITY, Calif., Feb. 22 /PRNewswire/ -- Avinger, Inc. and Sawtooth Labs, Inc., the two latest ventures started by John B. Simpson, Ph.D., M.D., announced the successful completion of their merger to form a single organization under the Avinger name. The larger unified company is developing innovative catheter-based technologies treating vascular disease. This is the eighth company founded by Dr. Simpson, interventional cardiologist and renowned medical device entrepreneur, whose pioneering efforts have provided patients with advanced therapies in a variety of areas, including coronary and peripheral directional atherectomy, chronic total occlusions (CTOs), intravascular ultrasound (IVUS), percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA), suture-mediated vascular closure, and localized drug delivery. His companies include Advanced Cardiovascular Systems (sold to Eli Lilly and Co. in 1981), Devices for Vascular Intervention (acquired by Eli Lilly and Co. in 1990), Lumend (acquired by Cordis division of Johnson & Johnson in 2005), Perclose (purchased by Abbott Vascular in 1999), and FoxHollow Technologies, Inc. (merged with ev3, Inc. in 2007).
The company is developing a robust pipeline focused on delivering devices that merge a therapy and intravascular visualization into a single catheter - a platform which currently does not exist for minimally invasive treatment of vascular disease. "I find this area really exciting because I know our combination of different technologies will help improve PAD patient outcomes, and I am most excited when we help prevent scheduled amputations. In addition to improving peripheral blood flow, I am also convinced we will derive information from the tissue we visualize and characterize via histological tissue analysis on the excised plaque that will help create patient-specific therapies. I strongly believe this gives Avinger a unique opportunity to analyze the underlying pathology of atherogenesis, promote drug discovery, and correlate these findings with patient outcomes over time," said Dr. Simpson.
About Avinger
Founded in 2007 by John B. Simpson, Ph.D., M.D., Avinger, Inc. (http://www.avinger.com) is developing the next generation of catheter-based technologies for the treatment of cardiovascular and peripheral vascular disease, utilizing our core competencies in medical device catheter engineering and intravascular imaging.
Avinger, Inc.
