Angel Valve Project Receives Preseed Investment for Mitral Valve Project

Angel valve Project, a spin off from the Medical University Vienna (Austria), is developing what it claims is the first transvascular catheter-deployed mitral valve implant for the heart. The present grant money of 200,000 euros will be used to further develop the device and to back preclinical development of its stented chordal repair system that consists of a PTFE matrix that is mounted on a nitinol stent and deployed via femoral artery or femoral vein and transseptal approach inside the atrioventricular valve. Once deployed, its self-expanding wings spread along the mitral annulus and covers the diseased part of the mitral leaflet containing the prolapsing segment.
 
Mitral Butterfly Could Revolutionize Transcatheter Valve Repair
The device, Mitral Butterfly is named for the wings spreading above and below the prolapsing segment and is intended to be used instead of a standard surgical “conventional” chordal repair which requires major surgery. There is an unmet need of mitral valve therapy since about 98 percent of patients requiring repair or replacement of the valve remain untreated. Mitral butterfly and its intended use is the correction of the mitral prolapse of the posterior leaflet.
 
Angel Valve Project (AVP) Developed the First Concept Based on a Transvascular Chordal Repair
The startup Angel Valve Project AVP situated in Vienna expects its device to allow not only non-option patients, but also younger and relatively healthier patients to receive treatment, because of the minimal invasive and expected ease of the implantation procedure. Transcatheter mitral valve concepts have attracted a lot of attention with currently more than 40 concepts in the pipeline. The proprietary concept of the Mitral Butterfly is the only transvascular chordal repair concept to date.
 
The PreSeed financing by Austria Wirtschaftsservice (AWS), the Austrian Government Promotional Bank, is expected to allow the company a first preclinical testing in a passive perfused heart model to visualize the device in action and proof the concept in acute and chronic animals. First-in-human trials will be performed after the initial financing round next year with a clinical pilot study to follow in 2019. Angel valve Project is a joint cooperation of established experts in the field of nitinol, catheter and textile research and production.
 
The inventor of AVP Prof. Dr. Werner Mohl worked for 40 years as an academic surgeon in research, patient care and medical education at the Medical University Vienna. He is a serial entrepreneur who started Miracormedicalsystems in 2008, a company treating acute and chronic myocardial jeopardy. Prof. Dr. Mohl has a longstanding experience in surgical repair of the mitral valve. The development was started by Mohl with the PRIZE program, a prototype developing program of AWS. During this conceptualizing phase of the early development, the primary concept was completely reengineered and adapted to medical needs and requirements.
 
A consortium from different companies—among others the Grabher group, BMT, Endosmart, Lenzing plastics and additional experts in the field of medical technology—were invited to cooperate in the present development. Currently the startup AVP is hiring people in the field of medical technology, project management and business administration to further develop the mitral butterfly concept and other concepts for mitral repair and replacement that are in the development pipeline. According to the consortium a total financing up to 13 million euros will be needed to reach FIM.

“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,” AVP consortial leader Mohl said in a statement. “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.”
 
“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. We are proud of our role in advancing Prof. Dr. Werner Mohl´s concept,” summed up Günther Grabher who is also member of the Consortium Board of AVP.