MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA, Oct. 7, 2013 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Amaranth Medical, a privately held medical device company, announced the closing of a $20 million Series B financing led by new investor DCP Management of Singapore. Existing investors Bio*One Capital, Charter Life Sciences and Phillip Capital, as well as new investor Venstar Capital, also participated in the financing. Proceeds from this financing will support continued development and the upcoming CE Mark clinical trial of FORTITUDE™, a bioresorbable scaffold for use in treating coronary artery disease.
"We greatly appreciate the financial support provided by DCP Management, Bio*One Capital, Charter Life Sciences, Phillip Capital and Venstar Capital, and we believe that this very successful financing is an indication of the unique potential of the FORTITUDE bioresorbable scaffold," said Kamal Ramzipoor, the General Manager and Chief Technical Officer of Amaranth. "The FORTITUDE scaffold has been designed to have a high radial strength, significant conformability to the vessel wall and prolonged stability, yet be totally bioresorbable, which may reduce complications such as vascular inflammation, restenosis and stent thrombosis."
"Having spun off Amaranth from Nanyang Technological University in 2005, we are naturally proud to be part of the next stage of their development of the FORTITUDE Bioresorbable Scaffold," said Ms. Swee-Yeok CHU, CEO and President EDBI and Bio*One Capital. "Amaranth's Singapore activities have helped develop novel scaffold manufacturing processes for bioresorbable scaffolds, and significantly enhanced the minimally invasive cardiovascular interventions capabilities locally."
Enrollment in the initial clinical study of FORTITUDE was recently completed, and preliminary results are expected to be presented at the annual Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics (TCT) meeting taking place October 27-November 1, 2013 in San Francisco, CA.
"Among the recent advances in interventional cardiology, we believe that the development bioresorbable scaffolds is one of the most significant," said Fred M. Schwarzer, Managing Partner of Charter Life Sciences and Chairman of the Amaranth board of directors. "In our view, Amaranth Medical's FORTITUDE scaffold has significant inherent advantages over other bioresorbable scaffolds in development, and the entire investor group is committed to supporting Kamal and the Amaranth team in the development of this important technology to improve the lives of patients worldwide."
About the Ongoing Clinical Study
Amaranth's ongoing clinical study is a prospective, non-randomized, investigational study to assess the safety and feasibility of the FORTITUDE™ bioresorbable scaffold. This study enrolled patients with symptomatic coronary artery disease, and enrollment was completed in July of 2013. Angiographic and intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) follow-up will be conducted on all study participants at six months and two years following implantation.
About Amaranth Medical
Amaranth Medical, Inc. is a medical device company which has created a novel technology platform for the development and manufacturing of fully bioresorbable scaffolds. The Company's lead product is the FORTITUDE™ scaffold, which is designed to afford the strength of metal stents to assist the artery during the remodeling process following an interventional procedure, without leaving behind a permanent implant with inherent clinical limitations. Amaranth Medical is headquartered in Mountain View, California, and its research and manufacturing operations are located both in Singapore and at its Silicon Valley headquarters. Amaranth Medical is led by Kamal Ramzipoor, and its investors include DCP Management, Charter Life Sciences Bio*One Capital, Philip Private Equity and Venstar Capital.