VIENNA, Austria, Jan. 08, 2015 - Miracor Medical Systems announced today that it has closed an extension to its Series B financing. The new investors BioMedInvest and aws Gründerfonds (“aws Founders Fund”) and the existing investors - Earlybird Venture Capital, Delta Partners and SHS – provided the additional investment of EUR 4.5 million for Miracor to expand clinical trials and commercialization with thePICSO® (Pressure-controlled Intermittent Coronary Sinus Occlusion) Impulse System.
“This additional cash infusion bears testimony that not only our existing investors continue to embrace the clinical benefits of PICSO,” said Ludwig Gold, CEO of Miracor, “but we also see the increasing interest and excitement from new investors.” he continued. “Our technology is addressing cardiovascular diseases, one of the largestmedical device markets - this additional funding will help us in further proving its full potential.”
Miracor is currently conducting several single- and multi-center clinical trials with up to 180 patients across Europe, to further demonstrate effectiveness of the PICSO Impulse System in improving myocardial perfusion in complement with percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) in acute myocardial infarction patients.
“We are excited to support Miracor in its further clinical and commercial activities;” commented Patrick Burgermeister, Partner at BioMedPartners AG, “PICSO is a unique therapy, addressing the huge unmet clinical need of patients suffering from the consequences of coronary heart diseases including reduced cardiac function and subsequent heart failure,” he continued.
Results from the prospective, multicenter safety and feasibility study ‘Prepare RAMSES’, recently presented at the ‘TCT 2014’ conference in Washington, D.C. showed that PICSO may significantly reduce infarct size as an adjuvant treatment in patients with acute ST-Segment Elevation Myocardial Infarction (STEMI) who were initially treated by primary PCI. Infarct size has shown to be strongly predictive of subsequent all-cause mortality and rehospitalization for heart failure after STEMI.
Ralf Kunzmann, CEO of aws Founders Fund: “As the most active venture capital fund in Austria we are looking forward to working with Miracor to drive clinical validation and commercialization of the PICSO technology. Miracor is an exceptional Austrian medical device company with an innovative technology to help patients suffering from severeheart disease and we are proud to being part of this exciting development.”
Miracor was advised by Mummert & Company for the Series B extension financing.
About Miracor Medical Systems GmbH
Miracor Medical Systems GmbH (www.miracormedical.com) is an Austrian medical device company dedicated to improve clinical outcome of patients with impaired cardiac function. So far, Miracor has raised over EUR 16 million in venture capital and another EUR 8 million in public funding. Major investors include Earlybird Venture Capital, Delta Partners, SHS, BioMedInvest, and aws Founders Fund.
The Miracor PICSO® (Pressure-controlled Intermittent Coronary Sinus Occlusion) Impulse System is designed to treat acute ST-Segment Elevation Myocardial Infarction (‘STEMI’) patients and less severe Non-ST-Segment Elevation Myocardial Infarction (‘NSTEMI’) patients by improving myocardial perfusion in complement with percutaneouscoronary intervention (PCI). PICSO is applied during PCI and designed to intermittently block the coronary sinus, a large vessel that collects blood from the heart muscle (myocardium), thereby increasing perfusion of the myocardium and reducing injury resulting from myocardial infarction.
About BioMedPartners
BioMedPartners (www.biomedvc.com) is one of the leading European venture capital firms providing private equity and mezzanine financing to early- and mid-stage healthcare and human life science companies. The BioMedInvest vehicle targets the entire industry with special focus on pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, diagnostics and medical technology. Based in Basel, BioMedPartners has successfully invested in about 50 human life science companies over the last ten years, of which a large number have already been listed on the stock exchange or have been acquired by leading players in he pharmaceutical industry.
About aws Founders Fund
aws Gründerfonds (www.gruenderfonds.at) is Austria´s most active venture capital investor with investible assets of EUR 68.5 million made available by the Republic ofAustria and Erste Bank. The fund invests up to EUR 3 million in early stage companies with high growth potential. Since its foundation in 2013, ten investments have already been completed and more than 600 business plans examined. The aws Gründerfonds is a subsidiary of the Austria Wirtschaftsservice Gesellschaft m.b.H.
NOTE: The CE marked PICSO® Impulse System is approved for sale in Europe. It is currently not approved for use in the United States.
Media Contact:
Cajetan von König
Director Sales & Marketing
Miracor Medical Systems GmbH
cvkoenig@miracormedical.com
Phone: +43 664 8829 7686