IRVINE, Calif., Sept. 20, 2010-Transcatheter heart valve company CardiAQ Valve Technologies (“CVT”), which is developing the world’s first self-conforming and self-anchoring technology for Transcatheter Mitral Valve Implantation (TMVI), announced today that its Phase 1 porcine model study has clearly demonstrated the capability of its proprietary transcatheter delivery system to successfully and repeatedly deliver a mitral valve implant. Arshad Quadri, M.D., Co-Founder, Chairman and Chief Medical Officer of CVT, will be presenting the results of this significant research on Wed., Sept. 22, at the Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics (“TCT”) scientific meeting in Washington, D.C. (3:30 p.m. ET, Room 147AB, Washington Convention Center).
“These latest in vivo results demonstrate that true transcatheter mitral valve implantation is not only achievable but also repeatable,” said Brent Ratz, CVT’s President and CEO. “We believe this is the first time anyone has successfully and repeatedly delivered and deployed a mitral valve through a transvenous, transseptal, catheter-based approach. Our team continues to make significant technical progress against planned milestones. We will shortly execute the next phases of pre-clinical testing in preparation for a first-in-man trial of our TMVI technology in 2011.”
“There remains an enormous unmet clinical need for the overwhelming majority of patients who suffer from mitral regurgitation,” said Dr. Quadri. “The fact is that a large majority of these patients suffer from functional MR and are too sick to undergo heart valve surgery. We believe that the applicability and efficacy of current transcatheter repair technologies are limited and that transcatheter mitral valve replacement will provide more effective treatment of MR to a wider range of patients.”
About CardiAQ Valve Technologies
Privately held CVT, headquartered in Irvine, Calif., has developed a proprietary system for Transcatheter Mitral Valve Implantation (TMVI). Through the combination of a unique anchoring mechanism and a novel delivery catheter, physicians will be able to accurately and securely implant a new mitral valve within a beating heart, thus avoiding open-heart surgery. The CVT procedure is designed to be performed in a cardiac catheterization laboratory similar to angioplasty or stenting, resulting in less trauma to the patient and substantial cost-savings to the healthcare system.
