CardioMEMS, Inc. Tops Georgia's 2010 Venture Financing List

ATLANTA, April 4, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- CardioMEMS, Inc., an Atlanta-based medical technology company that has developed and is commercializing a proprietary wireless sensing and communication technology for the human body, today announced that its Q1 2010 venture financing was ranked first in Georgia by dollar amount raised in 2010. The Georgia Top 25 Venture Capital Deals listing was compiled by PricewaterhouseCoopers, LLP and published in the Atlanta Business Chronicle.

The $37.9 million venture capital transaction, with lead investor Arcapita Ventures and co-investors Boston Millennia Partners, Foundation Medical Partners, Aperture Capital, Arboretum Ventures, Deerfield Partners, Easton Capital, Saints Capital and Vision Capital, provided CardioMEMS with additional funding to complete its CHAMPION clinical trial.  The 550-patient trial, conducted in 64 prominent U.S. heart centers, evaluated the safety and effectiveness of CardioMEMS' heart failure pressure measurement system.  The positive results of the CHAMPION trial were published in the February 2011 issue of The Lancet, one of the world's leading medical journals.  

"The financing provided in early 2010 by Arcapita and our other investors, has been invaluable to the success of CardioMEMS and its CHAMPION trial," said Dr. Jay Yadav, Founder and CEO of CardioMEMS. "Surpassing even our success is the increasing amount of venture capital dollars being invested here in Georgia that underscores the rising importance of this region as a growing hub for the entrepreneurial medical device industry."

The CardioMEMS wireless HF sensor is an innovative miniature device that is implanted into the patient's pulmonary artery using a simple, catheter-based procedure. The pulmonary artery pressure is then measured and displayed using the CardioMEMS proprietary electronic monitoring system.  After the procedure, patients perform wireless measurements of their pulmonary artery pressure from home. The pressure data is immediately transmitted to a secure database and is available for review by the implanting physician on the CardioMEMS proprietary website. 

In addition to the $37.9 million venture capital financing deal that propelled the company to the top of the PricewaterhouseCoopers Georgia Top 25 Venture Capital Deals listing, CardioMEMS also received a $60 million investment in late 2010 from St. Jude Medical (NYSE: STJ) in exchange for a 19% equity ownership interest and an exclusive option to acquire the remaining 81% of CardioMEMS for an additional $375 million during a period that extends through the completion of certain commercialization milestones.

For more information on CardioMEMS or the CHAMPION clinical trial, please visit www.cardiomems.com.

About CardioMEMS, Inc.

CardioMEMS is a medical device company that has developed and is commercializing proprietary wireless sensing and communication technology for the human body. The company's technology platform is designed to improve the management of severe chronic cardiovascular diseases such as aneurysms, heart failure, and hypertension. CardioMEMS miniature wireless sensors can be implanted using minimally invasive techniques and transmit cardiac output, blood pressure and heart rate data, which are critical to the management of patients. The sensors are designed to be permanently implanted into the heart and blood vessels due to their small size, durability and lack of wires and batteries. Using radiofrequency (RF) energy, the sensors transmit real-time data to external electronic readers, which then communicate this information to the patient's physician. CardioMEMS developed this technology based on the belief that frequent, on-demand, real-time monitoring of vital information enables proactive patient management, which holds the promise of reducing hospitalizations, improving a patient's quality of life and delivering more efficient and cost effective health care. More information about CardioMEMS is located at www.cardiomems.com.

Statements made in this press release that look forward in time or that express beliefs, expectations or hopes regarding future occurrences or anticipated outcomes are forward-looking statements. A number of risks and uncertainties such as risks associated with product development and commercialization efforts, expected timing or results of any clinical trials, ultimate clinical outcome and perceived or actual advantages of the Company's products, market and physician acceptance of the products, intellectual property protection, and competitive offerings could cause actual events to adversely differ from the expectations indicated in these forward looking statements.

CardioMEMS and the CardioMEMS logo are registered trademarks of CardioMEMS, Inc. Champion is a trademark of CardioMEMS, Inc.

Caution: The CardioMEMS' heart failure pressure measurement system is an investigational device limited by federal law to investigational use.

SOURCE CardioMEMS, Inc.