InnovHeart Appoints Brent Ratz as Independent member of the board

MILAN, Dec. 5, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- InnovHeart s.r.l., a developer of novel transcatheter mitral valve replacement (TMVR) systems for the treatment of patients with mitral valve disease, announces the appointment of experienced medical device entrepreneur, Mr. J. Brent Ratz, as non-executive independent member of its Board of Directors.

Mr. Ratz has over 19 years of experience in the medical device industry.  He is currently co-founder and Managing Director of inQB8 Medical Technologies and serves on the Board of Access Vascular, Inc.  Previously, Mr. Ratz was founding CEO of CardiAQ Valve Technologies, a venture-backed medical device company that developed the first system for TMVR, sold to Edwards Lifesciences in 2015 for $400M.  Under his hands-on leadership, Mr. Ratz was responsible for all functions within the company including product design and development, operations, quality and regulatory.   He was retained by Edwards Lifesciences and served as Vice President of Research and Development, TMVR, until 2017.  He is a named inventor on more than 24 medical device patents.

"Brent will be an excellent addition to the InnovHeart Team. His proven expertise will help guide the development of the unique Saturn technology in the treatment of patients with mitral regurgitation,'' said Keith D Dawkins MD, Chairman of the InnovHeart Board of Directors.

"The InnovHeart Saturn valve has the potential to address many of the challenges seen with other devices under development," said Mr. Ratz. "The low valve profile helps to maximize the ventricular outflow area, while the novel anchoring system supports and stabilizes the mitral annulus.  The Saturn valve should be applicable to a wide range of patients because the unique design is not limited by variations in sub-valvular anatomy.  I look forward to helping InnovHeart achieve success in this important field."

About InnovHeart

InnovHeart s.r.l., with locations in Milan, Italy and Newton, MA develops transcatheter mitral valve replacement systems (TMVR) to treat patients suffering from mitral valve disease.  The company is preparing for clinical trials of its novel Saturn TMVR.  Saturn is a low-profile mitral heart valve designed for trans-apical or trans-septal delivery.  InnovHeart is backed by Genextra S.p.a., an Italian holding company specializing in early stage investments in the life science field.  Additional information is available at:

www.innovheart.com 
www.genextra.it 

SOURCE InnovHeart s.r.l.