BARRX Medical, Inc. Completes $15 Million Growth Financing

SUNNYVALE, Calif., July 14 /PRNewswire/ -- BARRX Medical, Inc. today announced the closing of a $15 million Series D financing, which was led by new investor Highland Capital Partners and joined by existing investors Delphi Ventures, Alloy Ventures, Frazier Healthcare Ventures, Sutter Hill Ventures, Greenspring Associates and others.  BARRX Medical, Inc. develops endoscopic treatment solutions for treating precancerous lesions of the esophagus as well as other chronic gastrointestinal diseases.  Around the world, BARRX's HALO system is quickly becoming a standard of care for treating Barrett's esophagus, a precancerous condition of the lining of the esophagus caused by gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD).

"We welcome Highland Capital Partners as our newest investor in BARRX as well as the addition of Bijan Salehizadeh, M.D. from Highland to our Board of Directors.  We also would like to acknowledge and express our appreciation to our existing investors that have supported us through this latest round of financing," said Greg Barrett, President and CEO of BARRX Medical, Inc.  "This additional invested capital will be used to expand the utilization of our proprietary bipolar radiofrequency HALO technology into new disease states and into new international markets.  Not only does our technology continue to demonstrate clinical effectiveness for the treatment of Barrett's esophagus, but also has shown encouraging results for the treatment of another precancerous condition of the esophagus (squamous neoplasia) and bleeding disorders of the stomach and rectum.  International expansion will be focused in Latin America and Asia.  In China, for example, over 200,000 people die every year due to esophageal cancer.  We believe that our technology will be effective in eradicating early signs of this cancer and will result in a significant reduction in cancer incidence and mortality."

"Highland is pleased to work with the management team at BARRX Medical to continue to build on the many successes they have experienced over the past 7 years," said Bijan Salehizadeh, M.D., General Partner at Highland.  "We feel that the HALO technology offers significant clinical and health-economic benefits for patients around the world suffering from diseases of the esophagus that contribute to the rapid growth rate of esophageal cancer."

About BARRX Medical, Inc.

BARRX Medical, Inc. develops endoscopic treatment solutions for Barrett's esophagus and other chronic gastroenterological diseases.  Barrett's is a precancerous condition of the lining of the esophagus (swallowing tube) caused by gastroesophageal reflux disease, or GERD.  The company's HALO FLEX, HALO 360 and HALO 90 ablation systems are designed to provide a uniform and controlled ablation effect, in order to remove diseased tissue and allow re-growth of normal cells.

A multi-center randomized, sham-controlled study, published in the New England Journal of Medicine in 2009, studied HALO radiofrequency ablation applied in the highest risk Barrett's population (those having dysplasia).  The ablation group had a high rate of complete eradication of dysplasia and intestinal metaplasia and a significantly decreased rate of disease progression and cancer development, as compared to the control group.  In another study (AIM-II) published in Gastrointestinal Endoscopy, 98.4% of treated patients were Barrett's-free after two and a half years of follow-up.

The HALO systems are cleared by the FDA for use in the United States and each have CE Mark for use in Europe.  More than 58,000 procedures have been performed in over 400 hospitals around the world.  Based in Sunnyvale, Calif., BARRX Medical, Inc. was founded in 2000 and is privately-held.  Additional information is available at www.barrx.com.

About Highland Capital Partners

Highland Capital Partners was founded with the mission of helping great people build great companies.  For over twenty years, the firm has taken a sector-focused approach to investing in exceptional healthcare, internet & digital media and technology companies.  With $3 billion of committed capital and offices in Boston, Silicon Valley, Shanghai and Geneva, Highland has invested in and worked to create such firms as Ask Jeeves, Avid Technology, CheckFree, Conor Medsystems, Continental Cablevision, lululemon athletica, Lycos, MapQuest, Navic Networks, Odyssey Healthcare, P.A. Semi, Quattro Wireless, Quigo, Renal Treatment Centers, Starent Networks, Sybase, Telica and VistaPrint.  For more information, visit Highland's web site at www.hcp.com.

SOURCE BARRX Medical, Inc.