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New Leaf Venture Partners Announces $3.5 Million Financing in
Direct Flow Medical
NEW YORK & MENLO PARK, Calif. Sept. 7, 2005 -- New Leaf Venture
Partners (NLV Partners) announced today that it has co-led an $8
million Series A private equity financing in Direct Flow
Medical, a medical device company. NLV Partners invested $3.5
million in the financing, which was co-led by Spray Venture
Partners and also included existing investor EDF Ventures.
Randy Lashinski, President and Chief Executive Officer of Direct
Flow Medical, stated, "We are pleased to have expanded our base
of investors and to be working with venture partners that have a
depth of experience and understanding of the cardiovascular
device area. Proceeds of the Series A round will be used to
advance into human clinical trials our lead product, the Direct
Flow percutaneous aortic tissue valve prosthesis. The company's
goal is to initiate its first clinical study outside of the
United States in late 2006, following the successful completion
of which we would expect to begin a European trial in 2007 and
file for an IDE in the U.S. that same year."
In connection with the financing, Jeani Delagardelle, a managing
director at NLV Partners, has joined Direct Flow Medical's board
of directors. Ms. Delagardelle commented, "Direct Flow Medical's
technology allows the delivery of a replacement aortic valve via
a catheter and utilizes devices and techniques familiar to the
interventional cardiologist, often a rapid adopter of innovative
technologies. We believe that this next-generation device may be
able to address the issues around safety, deliverability and
repositioning requirements, providing an opportunity that fits
squarely within our early-stage medical device investment
strategy."
Ms. Delagardelle continued, "In our opinion, Direct Flow
Medical's less-invasive, proprietary approach could
significantly expand the number of aortic valve replacement
procedures performed annually, which is currently estimated at
150,000 surgeries each year in the United States. Specifically,
this technology is designed to enable aortic valve replacement
for non-surgical candidates who are too sick for surgery and,
conversely, for patients who are not sick enough to justify the
risk of open-heart surgery and who are generally managed with
drug therapy. Together, these patient populations represent an
additional 150,000 potential procedures."
About Direct Flow Medical
Founded in 2004 by Randy Lashinski and Gordon Bishop, Direct
Flow Medical is a medical device company located in Santa Rosa,
CA. Direct Flow Medical is developing a percutaneous aortic
tissue valve prosthesis to provide patients requiring treatment
of cardiac valve insufficiency with a safe and effective
percutaneous option. Approximately 1.2 million people over the
age of 65 have calcified aortic valves, yet only an estimated
150,000 are surgically treated each year.
About NLV Partners
NLV Partners is a life science-dedicated venture capital firm
with offices in Menlo Park and New York. Founded by the former
members of Sprout Group's Healthcare Technology venture team,
NLV Partners invests primarily in companies focused on
clinical-stage biopharmaceutical products, early-stage medical
devices, and molecular diagnostics. In addition, the NLV
Partners team will continue to manage the existing $800 million
healthcare technology portfolio of Sprout Group.
Contact
Burns McClellan, New York
on Behalf of NLV Partners
Justin Jackson
212-213-0006 ext. 327
jjackson@burnsmc.com
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