A California startup developing transcatheter mitral valve implantation technology to repair leaking heart valves has raised $32.5 million, according to a regulatory filing.
CardiAQ Valve Technologies, based in Irvine, aims to market the technology, once approved, as an alternative to open heart surgery to fix the problem of mitral valve regurgitation. An outside spokesman declined to comment on how the money will be used but said that the company will announce details in the future.
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On its website, CardiAQ Valve Technologies (CVT), which has completed a first-in-man study, claims to have a unique transcatheter mitral valve repair technology.
“While several companies are attempting to develop percutaneous approaches to repair the mitral valve, these transcatheter repair devices have found limited anatomical applicability due to the heterogeneous nature of the disease and, so far, have had a difficult time demonstrating efficacy that is equivalent to surgical approaches. CVT is one of the very few companies developing a transcatheter implantation (replacement) approach to [mitral regurgitation] based on a unique anchoring and positioning technology platform. CVT believes that its TMVI system will provide a faster, safer, and less-invasive alternative to traditional mitral valve replacement and repair surgery, while providing broader applicability and greater effectiveness than catheter-based repair technologies under development.”
Previously, the company raised $1.5 million, including $750,000 from Broadview Ventures Inc. in 2009, and an additional $6.5 million through a Series A round with funding from private investors who also invested in transcatheter aortic valve implantation techniques. Transcatheter aortic valve implantation is one of the most exciting technologies in heart surgery and the market is led by Edwards Lifesciences and its Sapien system. Medtronic is in second place although its product is not approved in the U.S.
In fact, one of the investors who invested in CVT’s Series A round and is now the company’s CEO – Rob Michiels – was previously president and COO of CoreValve Inc., the transcatheter aortic valve replacement company that Medtronic bought for $700 million in an upfront payment in 2009.
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Michiels was named CEO of CVT in January 2011.
