Medical University Vienna spin-off Angel Valve Project said today it raised $224,370 (EU €200,000) in preseed investments and is looking for another $14.6 million to support its Mitral Butterfly transvascular catheter deployed mitral valve implant.
The group claims the Mitral Butterfly could “revolutionize” transcatheter valve repair, intended for use in correcting the mitral prolapse of the posterior leaflet.
The Mitral Butterfly device is designed with “wings” which “spread above and below” the prolapsing valve segment and replace standard surgical chordal repair which requires major surgery.
The device is mounted on a nitinol stent and deployed through the femoral artery or femoral vein, with self-expanding wings that spread along the mitral annulus to cover the diseased part of the mitral leaflet containing the prolapsed segment, according to AVP.
“Recent in vitro tests have been very encouraging, and we are quite confident that this technology has the potential to dramatically impact the treatment options for a large number of patients suffering from mitral insufficiency,” AVP inventor and consortial leader Dr. Werner Mohl said in prepared remarks.
AVP is looking for an additional $14.6 million, an amount it expects will be required to take the development to first-in-human testing. First-in-human trials are slated to come after an initial funding round in 2017, with a clinical pilot study expected in 2019.
“The additional commitment and interest from the AWS program investing in the seed phase of the Angel Valve Project will attract new investors and validates our technology and the need for less invasive options to treat mitral valve disease. We are confident that we will be able to further develop our concept and bring our concept Mitral Butterfly to market. Like many early-stage medical device startups, AVP will use longstanding experience of medical technology partners to reduce the risk of the development and timeline of the project until clinical use. Longstanding clinical experience with surgical mitral valve repair and a unique concept together with continuing innovation in the field of medical technology will allow rapid and robust project management attracting risk capital to get to the clinical stage,” Dr. Mohl said in a prepared statement.
