Miracor announces new heart therapy

Dateline: 18 July 2008

Miracor Medical Systems announces new approach to heart disease Vienna, 18th July 2008 

Miracor Medical Systems announced its development activity with an initial investment of Euro 6 million. The company, founded by Prof Werner Mohl is developing a new medical device for patients with heart attacks or heart failure.

The core technology temporarily blocks a part of the heart known as the coronary sinus and the approach is called PICSO (Pressure-controlled Intermittent Coronary Sinus Occlusion). The investment by an international syndicate will fund the company’s development activity, clinical studies and commercialisation.

PICSO is a technology that has the potential to improve cardiac blood flow following an acute heart attack or in chronic heart failure patients. Miracor Medical Systems was recently founded to develop the clinical PICSO device and to complete initial human clinical studies. The company intends to commercialise PICSO in Europe, once it receives CE-mark approval.

The company is very pleased to have attracted Euro 6 million of venture capital investment from Earlybird (www.earlybird.com) and Delta Partners (www.delta.ie).

The founder of Miracor, Prof. Werner Mohl, is a consultant cardio-thoracic surgeon at the Medical University of Vienna/AKH. Prof. Mohl is recognized as a world leading expert on intermittent coronary sinus occlusion and has published numerous articles on PICSO over the last 15 years.

Commenting on how PICSO works, Prof. Mohl says: “PICSO is actually very simple. By using a balloon catheter and pressure pump, the flow of blood draining from the heart muscle is periodically suppressed. This occlusion causes a build-up of pressure in the heart muscle, which helps to improve its blood flow when the pressure is released, rather like a dam bursting. In addition, the hearts veins fill and drain rhythmically which almost acts as a massage of the heart muscle itself.”

It is believed that PICSO results in an improved flow of oxygen-rich blood and thus help to reduce the size of the damaged area and improve overall cardiac function. All in all, these effects indicate that PICSO has the potential to restore the function of heart muscle tissue following heart attacks or heart failure. Miracor Medical Systems will undertake a series of human clinical trials over the next 24 months to prepare for the market introduction of the PICSO device.

Miracor Medical Systems CEO Jon H. Hoem is delighted with the success of the financing round saying: “We believe that more than 10 million patients worldwide could benefit from PICSO. The scientific platform established by Professor Mohl in addition to the investment and experience of Earlybird and Delta Partners enables us to develop PICSO for acute coronary and heart failure patients thus providing a new treatment option for these critically ill patients.”

Thom Rasche, Earlybird partner explains the favourable starting conditions for Miracor: “The company meets all our stringent selection criteria for an investment to solve unmet medical needs. The company has already developed a prototype and the PICSO approach has been well researched by Professor Mohl and his group in Vienna. The company’s intellectual property position is impressive and the management team has wide-ranging expertise. In conjunction with Delta Partners, we will fully support the company in developing PICSO using our experience in the global medical device market and our combined financial strength.”

Joey Mason from Delta Partners commented: “We are very excited by the potential for the PICSO medical device. We look forward to supporting the management team as they bring the therapy through the development process and to the market in the coming months and years.”