Ra Medical to Merge With Catheter Precision

Ra Medical Systems Inc. and privately held Catheter Precision Inc. are becoming one company.

Under a merger deal forged by both organizations, Catheter Precision will become a wholly owned subsidiary of Ra Medical. If approved and completed, the merger will create a combined publicly traded company focusing on the cardiac electrophysiology market, one of the most robust and growing areas of medical devices. Medtech veteran David Jenkins, who has extensive experience growing medical device startups, is expected to lead the new company as CEO. Before tbecoming the chief executive of Catheter Precision, Jenkins was instrumental in operating several medical device startups, including Transneuronix Inc., which was acquired by Medtronic plc for $267 million in July 2005, and EP MedSystems Inc., which was acquired by St. Jude Medical Inc. for $95.7 million in July 2008.

“After undertaking a comprehensive process with external advisors to explore and evaluate a range of strategic options, our board and management team believe this transaction with Catheter Precision is the best strategic alternative for Ra Medical and represents an opportunity to create substantial value for our stockholders,” Ra Medical CEO Will McGuire said. “This business combination, if completed, will result in Ra Medical investors having an equity stake in a company that is focused on developing and commercializing novel technologies and solutions to improve the lives of patients with cardiac arrhythmias under the leadership of a team with decades of medical device industry experience.”
 
Catheter Precision has three product areas it intends to pursue. Its lead product, VIVO (View Into Ventricular Onset), is a U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-cleared and CE Mark product that uses non-invasive inputs to locate the origin of ventricular arrhythmias; through its use, the physician can identify patients for invasive catheter ablation, and with those patients, reduce the amount of time in the invasive procedure. Ventricular arrhythmias include ventricular tachyarrhythmias and premature ventricular arrhythmias, diseases which affect millions of patients that are not currently well treated. The company also intends to pursue a second generation of Amigo, a robotic arm previously cleared in both the United States and Europe, which serves as a catheter control device that can be remotely controlled outside of the procedure room. Catheter Precision has demonstrated that patient outcomes could potentially be enhanced by utilization of this device. Catheter Precision is working toward a third product release in the first half of 2023, which is a vessel closure device that would assist in the closure of the insertion site of the percutaneous catheter or other device used within the body. It is estimated that the worldwide market for this closure assist device is over one million procedures per year.
  
“We look forward to welcoming Ra Medical stockholders to our combined company following the completion of the proposed merger transaction,” said Jenkins, Catheter Precision founder and CEO. “Catheter Precision is committed to producing cost-effective, user-friendly and technologically differentiated tools for use in percutaneous catheter procedures that physicians will embrace. Our VIVO non-invasive 3D imaging system enables physicians to identify the origin of arrhythmias pre-procedure, thereby streamlining workflow and reducing procedure time. We are also considering development opportunities for the Amigo remote catheter system, which incorporates the most modern technologies while remaining easy to learn and use, and we are looking forward to the launch of our vessel closure device, currently targeted for the first half of next year. We envision a significant opportunity afforded by this merger by providing access to the public capital markets.”
 
Ladenburg Thalmann & Co. Inc. is acting as the exclusive financial advisor to Ra Medical in connection with the proposed merger.
 
McGuire and Brian Conn, the current interim chief financial officer, have agreed to remain with Ra Medical through the deal’s closing.
 
Catheter Precision is a medical device company bringing new cardiac arrhythmia treatment solutions to market. It is focused on developing technology for electrophysiology procedures by collaborating with physicians and continuously advancing its products.
 
Ra Medical Systems Inc. is a medical device company that owns intellectual property related to an advanced excimer laser-based platform for use in the treatment of vascular immune-mediated inflammatory diseases. Its excimer laser and single-use catheter system, together referred to as the DABRA Excimer Laser System, is used as a tool in the treatment of peripheral artery disease.