Cagent Vascular Appoints Medical Device Industry Veteran as Board Chairman

Cagent Vascular, a developer of next-generation angioplasty balloons using proprietary serration technology, has appointed Brian Walsh as its board chairman.

Walsh has held several executive-level positions in cardiovascular and ophthalmology specialties within the medical device industry. Walsh currently serves as president and CEO of Iantech Medical, a medical device company dedicated to solutions for micro-interventional cataract surgery. Walsh was the former CEO of Transcend Medical, which while under his leadership, was sold to Novartis. Walsh currently serves on the Board of Directors at Iantech Medical.
 
Walsh has held various sales and marketing roles at Xtent, Ventrica (acquired by Medtronic plc), Artemis Medical (acquired by Johnson & Johnson), Cardiovations, a division of Ethicon, a Johnson & Johnson company, Heartport, (acquisition by Johnson & Johnson) and Guidant Corporation.
 
Carol A. Burns, Cagent Vascular’s president and CEO said, “Mr. Walsh’s experience in marketing and corporate strategy will be invaluable as we advance our Serranator product line into additional indications. His expertise will add to the already impressive scientific, financial and business acumen of our board team.”
 
The Serranator is an angioplasty device with serrated metal strips embedded on a semi-compliant balloon. The Serranator’s technology is designed to create multiple longitudinal lines of interrupted micro-serrations within the luminal surface with low pressure balloon dilatation to aid in arterial expansion. The result is predictable and controlled lumen gain. The company’s first device, the Serranator Alto, performed well in the above-the-knee PRELUDE study, especially in a subset of patients with severe calcium. The Serranator Bass balloon for treatment of infrapopliteal arteries is in development with planned U.S. Food and Drug Administration submission and PRELUDE-BTK study in the first half of 2019.

“Peripheral Arterial Disease (PAD) is a debilitating disease affecting millions of people around the world. Although advances in treatment have helped improve lives, there is still significant progress and innovation needed to treat the more advance stage, Critical Limb Ischemia (CLI) that can lead to significant decrease in mobility, tissue loss and amputation. The company’s Serranator platform is a significant advancement in angioplasty technology for opening diseased arteries,” added Walsh.
 
Cagent Vascular is developing next generation vessel dilatation devices using proprietary serration technology. It is the second cardiovascular company formed by co-founders Burns; Peter Schneider, M.D., vascular surgeon and chief medical officer; and Robert Giasolli, vice president of Research and Development.
 
This project is supported by the Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Southeastern Pennsylvania, an initiative of the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development funded by the Ben Franklin Technology Development Authority.