TORONTO, April 17, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- CellAegis Devices Inc. (“CellAegis” or the “Company”), a commercial-stage medical device company advancing innovative, non-invasive, safe and cost-effective solutions for acute and chronic cardiovascular conditions, today announced the strengthening of its management team with the recent appointments of Brian Fielding as Chief Financial Officer, and Hans Custers as VP, Sales and Marketing Europe. These appointments are intended to support the global commercialization of the Company’s groundbreaking autoRIC® device (http://cellaegis.com/products/), which automates the delivery of Remote Ischemic Conditioning (“RIC”).
Mr. Fielding has an accomplished history of financial leadership success. In an executive management career that spans more than 30 years, he has held numerous C-level positions with a broad portfolio of both development-stage and commercial life science organizations. Most recently, Mr. Fielding served as CFO, Therapure BioPharma Inc., helping to create both Canada’s largest provider of biological contract manufacturing services, as well as a leader in drug development focused on plasma derived therapeutics, liver cancer, anemia and hepatitis C. Mr. Fielding holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of Toronto, as well as Chartered Accountant (CA) and Chartered Professional Accountant (CPA) designations.
Mr. Custers brings over three decades of healthcare sales, marketing, distribution, and product development experience to the Company. In the past, he has held senior positions with several medical device and start-up companies, including Terumo Europe, CD4MD, and CryoCath/Medtronic. Mr. Custers will be focused on the development and execution of a comprehensive European commercial strategy for CellAegis’ autoRIC® device, which is CE Marked.
“We are approaching a stage of anticipated rapid global growth,” commented Rocky Ganske, CellAegis’ Chief Executive Officer. “With the additions of Brian and Hans, we now have a leadership team optimized to support our business in automated RIC and capable of maximizing the significant cardiovascular market opportunity that we see ahead of us.”
About RIC
RIC is a noninvasive therapeutic that uses four cycles of limb occlusion and reperfusion to protect the myocardium against ischemia-reperfusion injury. RIC is a promising adjunctive treatment to PCI in the prevention of ischemic-reperfusion injury and minimization of postinfarction heart failure in ST-elevation myocardial infarction (“STEMI”) patients. Previous proof-of-concept clinical studies using RIC before or during a major ischemic event have demonstrated improvements in surrogate markers of ischemia, such as increased myocardial salvage and reduced infarct size, in a variety of clinical scenarios including acute STEMI, elective PCI, and coronary artery bypass grafting surgery. Furthermore, in patients with STEMI, RIC before PCI has been shown to reduce the incidence of contrast-induced acute kidney injury and has prevented acute kidney injury in patients undergoing cardiopulmonary bypass-assisted cardiac surgery.
The autoRIC® device is designed to provide RIC to adult patients over 18 years of age undergoing cardiothoracic surgery, interventional cardiothoracic procedures or patients with evolving myocardial infarction. The technology is intended for use in hospital and ambulance settings as directed by healthcare professionals. The autoRIC® device is CE Marked, and Health Canada approved, and is currently limited to investigational use in the United States.
About CellAegis Devices
CellAegis, headquartered in Toronto, Canada, is the world leader in automated remote ischemic conditioning. The company has patented and developed the non-invasive autoRIC® device, which delivers remote ischemic conditioning therapy (“RIC”) to patients with acute and chronic cardiovascular conditions. The autoRIC® device has CE Mark and Health Canada approvals for treatment during heart attacks, cardiothoracic or surgical procedures. Investigator sponsored clinical research studies for chronic conditions such as heart failure and stroke are also underway. The autoRIC® device was developed from the clinical work of clinicians and researchers at Toronto’s world-renowned Hospital for Sick Children.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release may contain forward-looking statements identified by words such as “expects”, “anticipates”, “will” and similar expressions, which reflect CellAegis’ current expectations regarding future events. The forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that could cause the Company’s actual events to differ materially from those projected herein. The forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this press release and CellAegis does not undertake and is not obligated to publicly update such forward looking statements to reflect new information, subsequent events or otherwise, except as required by law.
Contact:
Rocky Ganske
Chief Executive Officer
rganske@cellaegisdevices.com
www.cellaegis.com/about-us