SoniVie, a Portfolio Company of Accelmed Fund, Announces Successful Completion of First-In-Human Procedures Using the TIVUS Catheter

ROSH-HAAYIN, Israel, March 8, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

SoniVie, an Israeli startup company developing a novel system for the treatment of pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH), announced today that it has successfully completed the first two procedures in its First In Human (FIH) multi-center clinical trial.

SoniVie developed a dedicated therapeutic catheter (TIVUS - Therapeutic Intra-Vascular Ultrasound) that offers a unique treatment for PAH, a progressive and fatal illness with no cure, to date. Patients with this disease have an average life expectancy of five years. Procedures were performed as part of a clinical study which will include 15 patients in leading centers in Europe (Belgium, UK, Austria) and Israel with a 1 year follow up period. The first procedures were performed by Dr. Pr. Jean-luc Vachiery, at Hôpital Erasme, Brussels Belgium, a large center in Europe for the treatment of pulmonary hypertension.  

SoniVie was founded by Accelmed, as part of its Targeted Innovation investment model. Following Mori Arkin's recommendation, Accelmed, along with leading experts in the field of cardiology, identified and spun out from Cardiosonic Inc. technology originally developed for Renal Denervation to control systemic blood pressure, into the field of pulmonary hypertension. Dr. Martin Leon from the Center for Interventional Vascular Therapy Columbia University Medical Center / New York-Presbyterian Hospital, a cardiologist who is considered the world's most influential interventional cardiologist, is the Company's Medical Director. To date, Accelmed has invested approximately $3 million in SoniVie.

Pulmonary hypertension is a disease characterized by stiffening of the small blood vessels of the lungs which causes an elevated pulmonary-artery pressure leading to deteriorated functioning of the heart, with a consequent average survival rate of five years. In the US alone there are approximately five million patients suffering from PAH while current drug treatments are suited only to a small sub group of several tens of thousands of patients. The market potential is estimated at $6.5 billion.

SoniVie's TIVUS catheter is inserted into the pulmonary artery, in a catheterization procedure, and selectively damages nerves associated with disease activity without touching the vessel walls or damaging the adjacent tissues. This treatment may significantly slow down the disease progression.

Assaf Bernstein, CEO of SoniVie, said: "We are excited about the completion of the first two therapeutic procedures in patients. The clinical team will monitor the patients in accordance with the clinical protocol and we hope to report clinical improvement in these patients and others over the coming year."

In October 2015 SoniVie won first prize in the innovative companies' competition at the TCT 2015 - most meaningful interventional cardiology conference held in the United States.

About SoniVie: 

SoniVie is a medical device company developing a system for the treatment of pulmonary hypertension. PH is an incurable disease that affects millions of people in the US and Europe. The company's scientific advisory board comprises worldwide leading experts in the fields of Pulmonary Hypertension and Cardiology; The Company's medical director is Dr. Martin Leon from the Center for Interventional Vascular Therapy Columbia University Medical Center / New York-Presbyterian Hospital, a cardiologist who is considered the world's most influential interventional cardiologist. The company's offices are located in Rosh-Haayin, Israel.

About Accelmed:

Accelmed is the largest pure play medical device fund in Israel. Accelmed focuses on global investments in mature companies that might serve as a platform to Israeli companies and also builds companies that develop innovative medical devices solutions for major markets such as diabetes, obesity and heart diseases, in which there is currently no medical solution. Since it was founded in 2009 by Mori Arkin, the chairman of the investment committee, and Dr. Uri Geiger, the managing partner, the firm has made 18 investments in medical device companies, including M&A and IPO of five of them. Existing companies in the portfolio include Valcare, EndoSpan, SoniVie, CartiHeal, Nitiloop, Digma, Memic, and NitiNotes.

Accelmed has a large and experienced investment management team which other than Dr Uri Geiger and Mori Arkin, includes four additional partners (Dr. Irit Yaniv, Ilan Ben Oren, Lior Shav, and Amir Blatt) together with a team of analysts and well-known advisors.

More information can be found in Accelmed's website: http://www.accelmed.com

For more information:  
Meirav Bauer
KM Investor relations ltd.
Tel: +972-3-5167620
[email protected]
http://www.km-ir.co.il

SOURCE Accelmed