December 27, 2012 — Cardiosonic Inc., a private developer of technology in the field of renal denervation for the treatment of hypertension, announced it has closed on the first $6.1 million of a planned $16.1 million Series B financing. The round was led by a new strategic investor and joined by existing investor Shmuel Almagor. In addition the company announced that Michael Berman, an industry executive, has invested in the company and joined the board of directors as its chairman.
Cardiosonic has successfully developed a high intensity, non-focused therapeutic ultrasound catheter and control system for remote tissue ablation for the treatment of hypertension by renal denervation (RDN). The TIVUS system, which recently initiated a pilot human clinical trial, has been designed to enable quick controlled RDN without damaging the arterial endothelium.
“The TIVUS system has great potential to improve the process and outcomes of RDN procedures. In addition the TIVUS system may expand the population of patients eligible for RDN therapy by obviating current anatomic and physiologic restrictions and contraindications,” said Krishna Rocha-Singh, Prairie Heart Institute, St. John’s Hospital, Springfield, Ill., an advisor to the company.
“We are pleased to complete this financing with our new strategic partner and will rapidly move forward with our extensive clinical trial and next-generation product development plans. We anticipate rapid enrollment in multiple clinical trial protocols during the next 18 months and in parallel expect to achieve important regulatory and product development milestones,” said Cardiosonic CEO Benny Dilmoney. “We expect to become a serious competitor in the large and growing RDN international markets and be poised to execute our U.S. IDE [investigational device exemption] trial in 2014. The addition of a new strategic investor combined with the continuing commitment of our present investors is a testament to the significant progress we have made in the development and investigation of our TIVUS system.”
For more information: www.cardiosonic.co.il