CardiaLen Receives Significant Financing from Broadview Ventures to Complete Studies in Atrial Fibrillation

ST. LOUIS, MO, March 31, 2011 (Press-News.org) CardiaLen, Inc., a medical device company focused on providing pain-free internal cardioversion therapy for atrial fibrillation (AF) with a low-energy implantable atrial cardioverter plus pacing device, received $735,000 in funding from Broadview Ventures, Inc. (broadviewventures.org). The financing will be used as working capital and will help fund the completion of CardiLen's preclinical animal studies in atrial fibrillation as well as finalize the development of the company's external low-energy pain-free atrial cardioversion device to be used in First-in-Man studies. The funds will not only help the company complete its current studies, but help develop the complete protocol for its First-In-Man studies.

"Clinical evaluation and the development of our cardioverters can be difficult and expensive. We are thankful for Broadview Ventures financing, and look forward to the successful completion of studies in atrial fibrillation utilizing this low-energy cardioversion technology," said Bob Calcaterra, CEO of CardiaLen. "We continue to reach milestones at CardiaLen, and are confident that our pain-free cardioverter-defibrillators will offer significant patient benefits."

CardiaLen also received a future commitment from Broadview Ventures for additional dollars upon achievement of certain research milestones. These additional funds will allow the company to begin and complete much of its First-in Man studies. Broadview Ventures, a company associated with Paris-based Fondation Leducq, has a mission to accelerate the development of technology in cardiovascular and neurovascular disease through targeted investment.

The most common cardiac arrhythmia (abnormal heart rhythm) is atrial fibrillation (AF or A-fib) and involves the two upper chambers (atria) of the heart. CardiaLen is developing implantable low-energy (low voltage) pain-free atrial cardioverters to help address the major unmet needs of this condition. AF has been estimated to affect more than three million people in the United States and over twenty million people worldwide. Pain-free operation is essential since AF patients typically remain conscious during episodes and since the condition is not immediately life threatening.

Formed in 2009 and co-located in St. Louis, MO, and St. Paul, MN, CardiaLen's low-energy cardioversion technology is based on breakthrough work by Professor Igor Efimov, PhD, a world leader in cardiac arrhythmia research, currently at Washington University in St. Louis Biomedical Engineering School and previously at Case Western Reserve University. Professor Efimov and his research colleagues discovered that very low-voltage shock, applied in proprietary algorithms, induces virtual electrode polarization (VEP) at cardiac heterogeneities and opens a new approach to the long sought after goal of pain-free defibrillation.

CardiaLen holds rights to its low-energy cardioversion technology under an exclusive global joint license from Washington University in St. Louis and Case Western Reserve University to develop and commercialize certain intellectual property developed by Professor Igor Efimov, Ph.D. This technology has the potential to provide pain-free cardioversion-defibrillation therapy for both atrial and ventricular arrhythmias, conditions where major unmet needs exist. For more information, visit: http://www.cardialen.com.