CardioInsight Technologies Closes Financing and Secures Japanese Distribution Agreement

CLEVELAND, Jan. 6, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- CardioInsight Technologies Inc., a leading developer of non-invasive electrocardiographic mapping technology, raised over $10 million in 2010, including an investment and distribution agreement with Tokyo's DVx, a leading Asian distributor of cardiovascular devices.  

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DVx will lead regulatory and marketing activities to commercialize CardioInsight's EC Mapping system in Japan, the world's third largest cardiovascular market. In addition, CardioInsight will launch its EC Mapping system in Europe in June 2011 and in the U.S. later in the year.  

"The closing of our financing, in addition to securing our distribution partnership with DVx, marks the end of an exciting year for CardioInsight.  We made tremendous strides in developing our commercial product and in validating the clinical utility of our system during 2010.  These milestones position us well as we begin to prepare for the commercial introduction of the EC Mapping technology later this year," said CEO Steve Arless.  "We look forward to working with DVx, as their leadership and expertise in Japan's cardiovascular market will help establish our EC Mapping system as a world-class electrophysiology product."

CardioInsight's electrocardiographic mapping technology gathers electrical information about the heart from an electrode 'vest' placed on a patient's body and combines it with images from a CT scan to provide 3D maps of the electrical activity of the heart. Unlike conventional methods, CardioInsight's technology is non-invasive and provides beat-by-beat, whole heart mapping. The technology's strengths in guiding the treatment of arrhythmias and heart failure have been demonstrated in more than 260 patient studies at clinical centers, including University Hospitals of Cleveland, the Cleveland Clinic Foundation, Loyola University Medical Center, the University of Pennsylvania Medical Center, and Hospital Cardiologique du Haut-Leveque in Bordeaux, France.

"We are very pleased to have entered into this partnership with CardioInsight.  We strongly believe that we will be successful partners in introducing this exciting new technology into the Japanese market," said CEO Makoto Wakabayashi.  "CardioInsight's non-invasive EC Mapping technology offers unique advantages and opportunities for the treatment of cardiac arrhythmias and heart failure."

CardioInsight's 2010 funding was led by Draper Triangle Ventures and included investment from DVx, Case Technology Ventures, individual investors, and management.  

About CardioInsight Technologies Inc.

CardioInsight is commercializing a revolutionary technology called Electrocardiographic Mapping (ECM) that non-invasively generates 3D images of the electrical activity of the heart.  The images help physicians more accurately treat certain heart ailments such as arrhythmias and congestive heart failure.  ECM non-invasively generates real-time, whole heart images of the electrical activity on the surface of the heart by combining body surface electrical data with 3-D anatomical data obtained from CT scans. The CardioInsight system reconstructs and displays 3D images and other useful measures of cardiac electrical activity as if the measurements were taken directly from the surface of the heart. The ability of ECM to generate accurate images of the heart's electrical activity and its potential to guide therapy in both cardiac arrhythmias and congestive heart failure has been demonstrated in over 260 patient studies sponsored by the Company.  

About DVx Inc.

Founded in April 1986 with the aim of contributing to "People-friendly" healthcare, DVx Inc. is a leading Japan-based distributor of cardiology products. As a participant in the market for medical products, DVx pursues a mission of improving quality of life (QOL) for people suffering from heart disease.  DVx has three business segments: the Arrhythmia segment sells cardiac pacemakers, implantable cardioverter-defibrillators (ICDs), electrode catheters and ablation catheters; the Ischemia segment imports and sells contrast medium power injector, balloon catheters and excimer laser system for angioplasty; the remaining segment is engaged in the sale of radioprotection shields and data books, which contain data regarding cardiac pacemakers and ICDs.

SOURCE CardioInsight Technologies Inc.