The AV-Venture investment consortium composed of Italian Angels for Growth (IAG), Doorway and Club degli Investitori, announces that its investee AorticLab, manufacturer of EMBRACE©, an innovative "full body" filter for anti-embolic protection during percutaneous structural cardiology procedures, has successfully conducted the treatment of the first three patients. In this first phase of the Nautilus clinical trial three of the most important Italian centers have been involved: Policlinico di Monza, IRCCS Policlinico San Donato and IRCCS Ospedale San Raffaele. An enlargement to other important European centers is expected soon.
"First of all, I would like to congratulate the company's team - says Claudio Zuccolotto, one of the IAG Champions and member of the Board of Directors of AorticLab - which reaps the fruits of a challenging work carried out during the months of the pandemic. 2021 is the crucial year for the success of AorticLab, because the milestones we will soon reach will give a strong international visibility to the project."
"Congratulations to Franco Osta, to the AorticLab team and to the 'Champion' Claudio Zuccolotto for the results achieved and for the closing of this round, also underwritten by the Club degli Investitori, which thus fulfills its mission to support capable and innovative entrepreneurs, supporting them along the entire growth path" said Andrea Rota, Managing Director of the Club degli Investitori.
"We are particularly pleased with the results of these clinical trials that highlight the validity of the technology and reward the efforts of the Aorticlab team," said Antonella Grassigli, CEO of Doorway. "As a Benefit company we put at the center of our startup selection process the compliance with ESG criteria because we believe that conferring value to the society, in particular with the development of new medical technologies, produces value also for investors. Aorticlab's progress demonstrates the validity of this choice and we hope that these innovations can soon become of daily use in medical practice".
“The innate spirit of innovation that characterizes the team of AorticLab, - said Franco Osta CEO - has made possible the development of the exclusive technology 'Catch&Flow', that combines advanced materials with original design, giving optimal debris filtering without increasing blood pressure gradient. The Embrace device is the first of a series of leading edge solutions designed to increase patients’ safety and expand effective access to aortic valve stenosis treatment”.
Embrace, due to its unique Catch&Flow technology, ensures a more effective capturing of calcified debris which might be released during TAVI’s (Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implant) procedures, while maintaining the correct normal blood flow and protecting the inner surface of the supra-valvular aortic arch.
In 2020, 190.000 patients worldwide underwent TAVI procedure and in 2027 it is assumed that there will be 390.000 cases. The TAVI procedure carries an inherent risk of stroke that may be more than 2-4%. Embrace fits perfectly with the aortic wall and makes all aortic procedures more safe in term of adverse events minimizing the risk of cerebral damage by covering all three main branches of the aortic arch and the systemic circulation.