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Over-Subscribed Series C Financing Proceeds to Fund Continued Development of Breakthrough Cardiac Recovery System 
LAKE FOREST, CA June 25, 2003 Orqis™ Medical, a privately held medical device company developing a less invasive Cardiac Recovery System (CRS™) for the treatment of acute decompensated congestive heart failure, announced today the completion of an over-subscribed $25 million Series C financing. HealthCare Ventures led the round with additional first time investments by Care Capital and Rho Ventures. All of the company's previous investors, which include Domain Associates, Johnson & Johnson Development Corporation and Temasek Holdings, participated in the round. The Series C financing is projected to fund the expansion of the management team and further development of the Orqis Medical Cancion™ family of Cardiac Recovery Systems, including the pivotal clinical trial and Pre-Market Approval (PMA) submission. The financing will also cover the launch of the Cancion CRS into the European market where the device has already received CE Mark certification. "We are very pleased to have closed this round of financing, especially in such an unfavorable economical environment. We believe that the round's over- subscription of funds at strong terms exemplifies a high level of investor confidence in the Cancion CRS potential," said Orqis President and CEO, Ken Charhut. "We believe Orqis' CRS technology will offer a less invasive therapy for in-hospital CHF patients who are in need of acute unloading of their hearts. Longer term, the "rest-to-recovery" concept will be applied to chronic CHF, in the hopes of offering those patients the potential for reversal of CHF." "Of the millions of global CHF patients, 500,000 are considered non- responsive to conventional drug therapy which is the near-term opportunity for the CRS," said Jim Cavanaugh, Ph.D., and General Partner at HealthCare Ventures. "Orqis represents an excellent investment opportunity for HealthCare Ventures because it addresses a significant unmet medical need, has a far shorter development horizon than potential pharmaceutical treatments, and is protected by a strong intellectual property portfolio." In conjunction with the financing, Orqis added Dr. Cavanaugh, Mark Leschly, Managing Partner of Rho Ventures, and S. Iswaran, Managing Director at Temasek Holdings (Private) Limited, to its Board of Directors. Dr. Cavanaugh has extensive knowledge of U.S. and international healthcare markets, and was most recently President of SmithKline & French Laboratories- U.S., the domestic pharmaceutical division of SmithKline Beckman Corporation. Mr. Iswaran is responsible for private equity investments at Temasek, a Singapore investment holding company that holds in excess of 20% of the total equity on the Singapore stock exchange. Mr. Iswaran has also been a Member of Parliament in Singapore since 1997. Prior to joining Rho in 1999, Mr. Leschly spent five years in venture capital at Healthcare Ventures where he was a general partner and gained several years of management consulting experience while at McKinsey & Company. Current CHF drugs are associated with adverse side effects, and many patients become refractory to the drug therapy, thereby accelerating their decline and lengthening their average length of hospital stay, at a great cost to the healthcare system. Additionally, the majority of later stage heart failure devices require invasive surgical procedures, which many patients cannot tolerate. The Cancion CRS is a potential breakthrough for patients with frequent, acute episodes of CHF. The device utilizes cutting-edge blood pumping technology and is designed for percutaneous insertion, allowing a significantly less invasive approach for patients than the major surgery that is currently available. About Orqis Medical: Orqis Medical is a medical device company that is pioneering a new way to treat congestive heart failure. The company is currently developing the Orqis™. Medical Cancion™ family of Cardiac Recovery Systems (CRS™), which may be able to rest the heart of congestive heart failure patients. The systems provide cardiac support through peripheral access to the circulatory system and may, thereby, reduce the need for invasive surgical procedures that accompany other later stage heart failure devices. The company is privately held, and is based in Orange County, California. For additional information please visit www.orqis.com. About Care Capital: Care Capital LLC ( www.carecapital.com ) is a life sciences investment firm focused on companies with products in clinical development and technologies that result in the creation of new product opportunities. About HealthCare Ventures: HealthCare Ventures (HCV) is one of the world's largest venture capital firms specializing in health care, making investments in early stage and emerging growth companies that have the potential for exceptional growth. The firm has successfully raised and managed seven funds in the past seventeen years. About Rho Ventures: Rho Ventures is a New York-based venture capital firm with extensive investments in the technology, healthcare and electronic information sectors. Since it was founded in 1981, the firm has invested in numerous companies including Active Power, Capstone Turbine, Ciena, Commerce One, Compaq Computer, Copper Mountain, Diversa, Human Genome Sciences, MedImmune and Vicurion. Aggregate venture capital under management exceeds $1 billion. Additional information can be found at www.rho.com. |
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