Cardiac Dimensions Closes $15 Million Series C, 3/17/2004
KIRKLAND, WA - March 17, 2004 - Cardiac Dimensions Inc., an early stage company focused on the development of novel, minimally invasive interventional cardiology devices for the treatment of mitral valve disease and Congestive Heart Failure (CHF), announced today that it raised $15 million in its Series C round of funding. Frazier Healthcare Ventures led the round. Existing investors MPM Capital, Interwest Partners and Polaris Venture Partners all participated in the financing. The funds will be used to finalize the company's pre-clinical programs, initiate clinical trials, and for general corporate purposes.
Trevor Moody of Frazier Healthcare Ventures has joined the company's board of directors, which includes Cardiac Dimensions' chief executive officer Rick Stewart. In addition to Mr. Stewart, the company's board consists of Clif Alferness of Scout Medical Technologies, Brian Chee of Polaris Venture Partners, Jim Fitzsimmons, CEO of Archus Orthopedics, Dick Martin, former President of Medtronic Physio-Control Corporation, Michael Sweeney of InterWest Partners, and Kurt Wheeler of MPM Capital.
"Cardiac Dimensions has clearly emerged as a leader in the development of implantable devices placed percutaneously (via catheter) to repair mitral valve insufficiency in CHF patients" commented Rick Stewart. "This is one of the most exciting and promising areas within Medical Devices. We are very pleased with our progress and with the addition of Frazier to our team, which will bring to four the number of highly experienced and respected health care venture firms in partnership with the company. Our objective is to quickly reach our full potential by delivering an effective treatment to a very significant population of patients that today have limited therapeutic options available to them".
"We believe that performing percutaneous repair of heart valves is the next major opportunity area in the treatment of heart disease. At Frazier Healthcare Ventures, we have conducted significant research to identify critical technologies that will enable this important emerging market. Cardiac Dimensions is very well positioned to be a leading company in this revolution in patient care," said Trevor Moody, Partner, Frazier Healthcare Ventures.
About Cardiac Dimensions
Cardiac Dimensions, Inc. is a medical device company developing
novel interventional tools for the treatment of congestive heart
failure ("CHF") and related conditions. CHF is a life-threatening
condition afflicting nearly 5 million Americans and responsible
for 2.5 million hospital admissions each year. Given their poor
state of health, CHF patients are rarely candidates for conventional
surgical procedures that could extend and improve their lives. Cardiac
Dimensions is developing minimally invasive therapies as an alternative
to surgery, thus significantly expanding the pool of CHF patients
that can be helped. Cardiac Dimensions, based in Seattle, Washington
was founded in 2001, and is funded by leading venture capital firms,
MPM Capital, InterWest Partners, Polaris Venture Partners and Frazier
Healthcare Ventures
About Frazier Healthcare Ventures
Frazier Healthcare Ventures ("FHV"), founded in 1991 and
with more than $750 million of capital under management, is one
of the nation's leading providers of early stage venture capital
and growth equity capital to healthcare companies. Having invested
in more than 75 emerging healthcare companies, Frazier Healthcare
Ventures is known well for their investment team's depth of experience
and technical expertise. The FHV investment team, with 12 individuals,
is one of the largest in the venture industry, consists of four
experienced MD's, nine members experienced in product development,
six members experienced in the design of clinical trials, eight
former industry executives and two experienced healthcare consultants.
Partnering with FHV provides access to capital and an unparalleled
breadth of relevant healthcare industry experience. More information
is available at www.frazierhealthcare.com.
About MPM Capital
MPM Capital is the world's largest dedicated investor in life sciences.
With committed capital under active management of more than $2.1
billion, MPM is uniquely structured to invest globally in healthcare
innovation. Primarily in biotechnology, but also in medical devices
and biopharmaceuticals, MPM has seamlessly integrated private and
public equity products to target innovation in healthcare and, thereby,
deliver exceptional returns to investors.
About Polaris Venture Partners
With over $2 billion under management, Polaris Venture Partners
is a partnership of experienced venture capital investors and technology
executives who help entrepreneurs build market-leading companies
in information technology and life sciences. Polaris-backed companies
include: Advanced Inhalation Research (AIR™); Akamai Technologies,
Inc. (NASDAQ: AKAM); Allaire Corporation; Aspect Medical Systems
(NASDAQ: ASPM); Centra Software (NASDAQ: CTRA); deCODE genetics
(NASDAQ: DCGN); and SolidWorks (sold to Dassault Systémes).
The company has offices in Boston and Seattle. More information
about Polaris Venture Partners is available at www.polarisventures.com.
About InterWest Partners
InterWest Partners, founded in 1979, is a leading diversified Venture
Capital firm focused on building long-term relationships with entrepreneurs
and portfolio companies. With $1.6B capital under management, InterWest's
experienced partners bring together deep domain knowledge in medical
technology, telecommunications and software. InterWest takes a long
term, collaborative approach to venture funding, providing early
stage and ongoing enlightened capital, management coaching and access
to a broad network of resources. Examples of the firm's previous
investments include ArthroCare Corporation, CIENA Corporation, Copper
Mountain Networks, Inc., Corixa, Cor Therapeutics, Coulter Pharmaceutical,
Cubist Pharmaceuticals, Lightera Networks (acquired by Ciena), PercuSurge
(acquired by Medtronic), Silicon Graphics, SiTera, Stratacom (acquired
by Cisco), Ventritex (acquired by St. Jude Medical), and Xilinx,
Inc. InterWest Partners has offices in Menlo Park, California and
Dallas, Texas. For additional information on InterWest Partners,
visit their Web site at www.interwest.com.