SADDLE BROOK, N.J. & AACHEN, Germany--(BUSINESS WIRE)--CircuLite, Inc. today announced the closing on $10.5 million in its Series C preferred stock financing. The funds are the initial close on a minimum $33 million financing plan. The Company has secured $23.5 million in insider commitments, with the balance of the round expected from new investors. The financing was led by Forbion Capital Partners and included participation by existing investors Crédit Agricole Private Equity, Foundation Medical Partners and Oxford Bioscience Partners. The Company also announced that Daniel Burkhoff, M.D., Ph.D., Chairman of the Company’s Scientific Advisory Board, has joined the Company’s management team as its Chief Medical Officer.
Proceeds from the Series C financing will support completion of the European registration trial for the long-term use of the Synergy™ Pocket Micro-pump for partial circulatory support in patients with Class IIIb and early Class IV heart failure. The Company will also complete the commercial launch of the Synergy device in Europe in 2009, upon CE Mark approval.
“CircuLite has successfully advanced Synergy into clinical development and is now well positioned to launch its first commercial product in Europe,” said Martien van Osch, Managing Partner at Forbion Capital Partners and a member of CircuLite’s Board of Directors. “Synergy has demonstrated very strong and sustained clinical benefits for patients thus far and we believe that this device will change the treatment landscape for chronic heart failure.”
“This strong financial support from our existing investors reflects their confidence in CircuLite and in the Synergy technology,” said Paul Southworth, President and CEO of CircuLite. “With the CE Mark on the horizon, our preparations for a targeted European launch for Synergy are well underway. With this financing, the resources are now in place to grow our commercial operations, and to build the body of clinical data for further submissions elsewhere in the world.
“We are also pleased to have Dr. Burkhoff join our management team. Dr. Burkhoff has served as a champion for Synergy and for our company. His expertise in the fields of heart failure and cardiovascular medicine has been instrumental in the product’s design and clinical development. We appreciate and value his continued support, which will be important as we focus our efforts on the successful commercialization of Synergy.”
Dr. Burkhoff has served as CircuLite’s Medical Director and as a Chairman of the Scientific Advisory Board (SAB) since its inception in 2005, and he will continue to lead the Company’s SAB. Dr. Burkhoff, a graduate of The Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, is a leading consultant in the field of heart failure, and retains an Adjunct Associate Professorship of Medicine at Columbia University Medical School. Dr. Burkhoff continues to serve as Medical Director of IMPULSE Dynamics and Cheetah Medical and was previously the Director of the Cardiovascular Research Foundation’s J. Skirball Center for Cardiovascular Research. Dr. Burkhoff has authored over 200 peer-reviewed journal articles, book chapters and editorials. His expertise and clinical research is focused on heart failure, including ventricular assist devices, ventricular mechanics, valvular heart disease, cardiovascular physiology, coronary circulation and cardiovascular pharmacology.
About Synergy™
The Synergy™ Pocket Micro-pump represents a new approach to mechanical circulatory support that can transform chronic heart failure management by providing a less-invasive, elective treatment option for patients before their disease state becomes irreversible. Synergy is the first implantable system designed to provide partial circulatory support (PCS) for long-term use in millions of unserved patients that have NYHA Class IIIb/early IV disease.
CircuLite’s patented micro-pump provides up to 3L/min of flow, which increases total cardiac output and offloads the heart, allowing it to rest and potentially enabling beneficial recovery of heart function. The size of a AA battery, the device is small enough to be implanted subcutaneously in a “pacemaker-like” pocket through a minimally invasive procedure.
About CircuLite®
CircuLite® is transforming heart failure treatment with the development of minimally invasive devices for long-term partial circulatory support (PCS). By enabling a proactive and lower-risk treatment approach by supplementing a patient’s native pumping capacity, CircuLite has the potential to improve the quality of life for millions of chronic heart failure patients and their families. CircuLite’s pipeline of PCS devices is lead by the Synergy™ Pocket Micro-pump, the world’s smallest implantable blood pump, currently in a CE Mark clinical trial. Next-generation Synergy micro-pumps include an endovascular system, a fully implantable system and a pediatric system. For more information on CircuLite and the Synergy Pocket Micro-pump devices, visit our website at www.CircuLite.net.
CAUTION: Investigational Device. Limited by Federal Law to Investigational Use Only.
CircuLite® is a registered trademark of CircuLite, Inc. in the United States.
Synergy™ is a trademark of CircuLite, Inc. in the United States.
Contact:
Media: MacDougall Biomedical Communications Jennifer Conrad, 781-235-3060 jconrad@macbiocom.com or CircuLite, Inc.: Gail Farnan, 201-478-7651 Vice President, Marketing
