AUBURNDALE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Vascular Nanotransfer Technologies (“VNT”) (www.vnanotech.com), an emerging medical technology company that has developed an innovative platform resulting in a proprietary Drug Coated Balloon (“DCB”), announced today that it has appointed John A. Williams as president and chief executive officer, effective immediately.
Most recently, Williams was president and CEO of Ovatech LLC. Previously, he was CEO of Cappella and Physiometrix. Earlier in his career, he was employed by Medtronic (Andover Medical) and Johnson & Johnson. A serial entrepreneur with both operational and fundraising successes, Williams has: led a successful IPO; raised more than $80 million for his companies; and sold three of his companies for handsome profits.
Williams’ new company, VNT, is focused on Drug-Coated Balloons, which are emerging as the ideal therapeutic tool for patients with coronary in-stent restenosis (ISR) and peripheral vascular disease. However, despite the success of first-generation DCBs in clinical trials, they exhibit significant limitations related to the precision in drug delivery and tissue retention, raising concerns about overall vascular safety. There is a need for the development of reliable coatings that allow for controlled drug delivery at a lower dose and minimal dislodgement of the coating into the distal vessel.
“There are currently no DCBs approved for use in the U.S.,” said Williams. “While current DCBs show great promise, there are regulatory concerns about the limitations of balloon coating technologies to maintain a reproducible dose throughout the balloon length and thus precisely transfer a drug to the targeted blood vessel tissue. VNT’s proprietary balloon coating addresses these limitations, and in vivo data are extremely promising.”
VNT’s nanocoating technology makes possible DCBs that are designed with enhanced drug delivery and performance characteristics compared to currently marketed DCBs. VNT’s initial product is a paclitaxel-based DCB for coronary and peripheral vascular applications, to be followed potentially by the first mitomycin-based DCB for vascular and non-vascular applications.
“VNT’s Paclitaxel-based DCB for coronary and peripheral vascular applications is designed to have many competitive advantages over today’s European DCB market leaders,” Williams added. “We expect to begin site enrollment for VNT’s First-In-Man clinical trial in the fourth quarter.”
About Vascular Nanotransfer Technologies (“VNT”)
Privately held VNT, based in Auburndale, Mass., is developing Drug-Coated Balloons (DCB) that are designed to be a more precise delivery vehicle and be the standard treatment of choice for vascular atherosclerosis as well as non-vascular applications.
CAUTION: VNT’s DCBs are not approved for sale.
Contacts
Vascular Nanotransfer Technologies
John Williams, 508-789-5805
jawilliams@vnanotech.com
