Cardiosolutions, Inc. Gathers Major Investment from Sorin Group

WEST BRIDGEWATER, Mass., July 10, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Cardiosolutions, Inc. an early-stage company focused on the development of an innovative percutaneous system to treat patients with moderate to severe mitral valve regurgitation, today announced it has received a minority investment from Sorin Group (Reuters Code: SORN.MI), a global medical device company and an international leader in the treatment of cardiovascular disease.

Cardiosolutions' technology consists of a proprietary catheter delivery system and an implant, the Mitra-Spacer™. This implant is designed to fill the void created by a dilated annulus or deteriorating valve mechanism providing a sealing surface for the leaflets of the mitral valve, thus reducing the degree of mitral regurgitation in patients.

This cutting-edge technology represents a less invasive, percutaneous solution for patients who suffer from moderate to severe mitral regurgitation, including a portion of those who have congestive heart failure. Today two to three percent of the world's population suffers from mitral regurgitation and approximately 2.3 million patients in the US and Europe suffer from severe mitral regurgitation. Every year approximately 500,000 new patients are diagnosed with this disease, of which over 80% are untreated.  A substantial group of patients have no option because they are too sick to survive the surgery and many others delay treatment because they have only moderate symptoms. All these patients could benefit from a less invasive solution.

Sorin's $8 million investment will finance on-going product development and clinical testing of this technology. Under the terms of the agreement, Sorin also has an option to acquire the company in the future. Sorin Group joins STD Med and BioVentures Investors as an investor in Cardiosolutions.

"We are very pleased to have Sorin Group, a leading Global medical device company, as our strategic partner in Cardiosolutions. They bring valuable industry experience, strong competencies in regulatory and clinical studies, as well as a strong marketing and distribution platform as we continue to make advances with our Mitral-Spacer technology. " said Steven Tallarida, President and CEO of Cardiosolutions.

"Mitral valve disease is significantly undertreated in the world today and patients are looking for less invasive therapies to address this problem. The investment in Cardiosolutions confirms Sorin's commitment to continuously introduce innovation in the Heart Valve business and represents an important step forward in our long-term growth initiatives" said Andre-Michel Ballester, CEO of Sorin Group.

About Cardiosolutions, Inc.

Cardiosolutions, Inc. ("Cardiosolutions" or the "Company") www.cardiosolutionsinc.com  is developing a less invasive, percutaneous alternative to open heart surgical repair of the mitral valve. The Cardiosolutions Percu-Pro™ System and Mitra-Spacer™ will provide a long-term therapeutic substitute to this complicated open heart valve repair procedure. In this connection, it will address the unmet clinical need for a minimally invasive solution to the nearly 200,000 patients diagnosed annually with moderate to severe mitral regurgitation who currently forgo treatment because they cannot tolerate a highly invasive procedure. The Company is another novel medical device technology incubated within and spun out of STD Med Inc. (Stoughton MA.) partnering with BioVentures Investors, a leading Medtech venture firm.

About Sorin Group

Sorin Group (www.sorin.com) is a global, medical device company and a leader in the treatment of cardiovascular diseases. The Company develops, manufactures, and markets medical technologies for cardiac surgery and for the treatment of cardiac rhythm disorders. With 3,750 employees worldwide, Sorin Group focuses on three major therapeutic areas: cardiopulmonary bypass (extracorporeal circulation and autotransfusion systems), cardiac rhythm management, and heart valve repair and replacement. Every year, over one million patients are treated with Sorin Group devices in more than 80 countries.

SOURCE Cardiosolutions, Inc.