ART closes new $8.5 million venture financing round

Arterial Remodeling Technologies ("ART") announced today that it has closed on a new venture financing round of $8.5 million from existing investors Matignon Technologies and Amundi Private Equity Funds, along with new investor InnoBio Fund managed by CDC Entreprises. Total investment in the Company is now $17 million.

“We are very enthusiastic about the prospects for ART—because we believe that bioresorbable stents are the future of interventional cardiology, and that ART is well-positioned in this sector”

In May 2010, ART disclosed the results of an in vivo study of 48 porcine arteries implanted with its biodegradable stent, which demonstrated that: the ART stent's biodegradation is measurable and begins at the first day of implant; the ART stent retains high radial strength, thus maintaining its structural integrity during biodegradation; and, the ART stent causes virtually no inflammation of the blood vessel wall.

"ART has made very significant progress over the past 22 months, and this new cash infusion will accelerate the development of our breakthrough approach of simultaneously balancing biocompatibility, biomechanics, and bioresorption within a bioresorbable PLA (polylactic acid) stent," said Machiel van der Leest, CEO, who previously was a co-founder and Chief Technology Officer of Minvasys. During his career he has developed and successfully introduced 15 Class III medical devices, which required pre-market approval and a scientific review to ensure safety and effectiveness.

"We are very enthusiastic about the prospects for ART—because we believe that bioresorbable stents are the future of interventional cardiology, and that ART is well-positioned in this sector," said Philippe Boucheron, Investment Manager, InnoBio Fund.

Earlier this year, validating data regarding ART's next-generation bioresorbable stent was published in the January 2010 special supplement of EuroIntervention, a peer-reviewed journal. The paper was authored by Antoine Lafont, M.D., Ph.D., Head, Interventional Cardiology Department, Georges Pompidou Hospital (Paris); Past Chairman, Interventional Cardiology Group, European Society of Cardiology (ESC).

ART's bioresorbable stent is designed to be delivered by conventional stenting techniques, is balloon-expandable, and meets the market standard of 6-French compatibility. ART's novel biopolymers have been developed in conjunction with one of the world's leading authorities in polymer chemistry, Professor Michel Vert, who is Former Director of the Research Center for Artificial Biopolymers at France's National Center for Scientific Research (Centre National de Recherche Scientifique/CNRS).