Cheetah Medical Closes $20 Million Series B Financing

TEL-AVIV, Israel, March 15, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- Cheetah Medical, a worldwide leader in noninvasive hemodynamic and cardiac output monitoring technology, announced today the closing of a $20 million financing round. The financing was led by Ascension Health Ventures (AHV) and also included Robert Bosch Venture Capital (RBVC), MVM Life Science Partners (MVM) and existing investors.

"We are very excited by the level of support provided by Cheetah's distinguished new investors, who share our vision for the extraordinary potential of the NICOM platform," commented Yoav Avidor, M.D., Chief Executive Officer of Cheetah Medical. "By providing accurate, noninvasive, continuous hemodynamic information, NICOM can improve patient outcomes by helping clinicians optimize fluid and vasoactive drug management in areas such as critical care, anesthesia, emergency medicine and heart failure. Patients worldwide are already benefiting from the NICOM platform, and the support of our investors enables continued expansion to new clinicians, applications and global markets."

As a result of the financing, Dr. Walter Lin, an Investment Manager with AHV, Gadi Toren, Venture Capital Investment Partner with RBVC, and Dr. Stephen Reeders, a Managing Partner with MVM, have joined the company's board.

"Because of its accuracy and non-invasiveness, Cheetah's NICOM platform has the potential to significantly expand the hemodynamic monitoring market," said Dr. Walter Lin of AHV. "We are excited to partner with a company whose validated technology can both improve outcomes and reduce the cost of care in what is generally a high acuity patient population."

Decisions regarding appropriate fluid administration and titration of drugs that support the cardiovascular system have a profound impact on patient survival, complications and cost of care. These concepts, also known as fluid optimization and goal directed therapy, are increasingly becoming standard of care. This is especially true in those who are critically ill, such as patients with sepsis, heart failure, kidney failure, and trauma, or those undergoing major surgical procedures.

NICOM provides a simple to use platform that enables physicians and nurses to quickly obtain accurate advanced hemodynamic parameters at the bedside, thereby aiding in differential diagnosis and selection and titration of the appropriate therapy to individualize patient care. Legacy approaches that rely on invasive, costly catheters have more limited use due to concerns about cost, maintenance requirements, invasiveness and potential complications. NICOM provides accurate hemodynamic information through a safe, cost-effective, user-friendly platform that can be utilized by physicians, nurses and other clinicians.

About Cheetah Medical

Cheetah Medical's NICOM(R) Noninvasive Cardiac Output and Hemodynamic Monitoring System uses the company's proprietary BIOREACTANCE(R) Technology to deliver continuous, accurate, noninvasive cardiac output (CO) and other vital hemodynamic monitoring parameters. The system is US FDA cleared and CE Marked, and since its commercial launch in 2008 has been adopted by a growing number of clinicians worldwide. Cheetah Medical headquarters is located in Tel-Aviv, Israel and its United States headquarters is located in Portland, Oregon. For more information, visit our website at http://www.cheetah-medical.com.

About Ascension Health Ventures

Ascension Health Ventures was launched in 2001 as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Ascension Health. AHV's role has been to construct and manage a strategic portfolio of investments that deliver a venture investment return, have the potential to transform the healthcare industry and significantly enhance the quality of patient care. CHV II, LP, a limited partnership between Ascension Health, Catholic Health Initiatives, Catholic Health East and Catholic Healthcare West, has been formed to expand this strategic investment initiative to other Catholic healthcare systems. AHV is the general partner of CHV II, LP.

About Robert Bosch Venture Capital

The Bosch Group is a leading global supplier of technology and services. In the areas of automotive and industrial technology, consumer goods, and building technology, some 270,000 associates generated sales of 38 billion euro in fiscal 2009. Each year, Bosch spends more than 3.5 billion euros for research and development, and applies for over 3,000 patents worldwide. With all its products and services, Bosch enhances the quality of life by providing solutions which are both innovative and beneficial.

Robert Bosch Venture Capital GmbH invests worldwide in innovative start-up companies at all stages of their development. Its investment activities focus on technology companies working in areas of business of current and future relevance for Bosch, above all automation and control, energy and environment, enabling technologies, and healthcare. Robert Bosch Venture Capital GmbH also invests in services/ business models as well as new materials that are relevant to the above-mentioned areas of business.

For more information, visit http://www.bosch.com and http://www.rbvc.com.

About MVM Life Science Partners

MVM Life Science Partners LLP, founded in 1997, is a venture capital firm which manages three funds totaling more than $500 million and invests in companies that discover, develop and commercialize innovations in biotechnology, pharmaceuticals and medical devices for the life science and healthcare markets. MVM has offices in both London and Boston, making investments predominantly in Western Europe and the United States, and has a growing team with wide-ranging experience across the life science and private equity markets (http://www.mvmlifescience.com).

    Contact:
    Yoav Avidor, M.D., Chief Executive Officer
    Telephone: +972-3-644-0288.
    Email: [email protected]

SOURCE Cheetah Medical Ltd