Avocet Medical Announces Completion of $17 Million Financing.SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BW HealthWire)--Nov. 9, 1999-- Avocet avocet (ăv`əsĕt), common name for a long-legged wading bird about 15 to 18 in. (37.5–45 cm) long, related to the snipe and belonging to the same family as the stilt. Medical, Inc. announced today that it has completed a $17 million private placement of preferred equity with a group of institutional investors led by Vector Fund Management. Participating in this round were several existing Avocet investors including Delphi Ventures, InterWest Partners, MDS MDS, n See temporomandibular pain-dysfunction syndrome. MDS 1 Maternal deprivation syndrome, see there 2 Myelodysplastic syndrome, see there Life Sciences, MedVenture Associates and New Enterprise Associates. Following the financing, Ranjan Lal of Vector Fund Management will join the Board of Directors of Avocet Medical. This is the second recent addition to the Avocet Medical Board, following that of Dr. Ernest Mario, Chairman and CEO (1) (Chief Executive Officer) The highest individual in command of an organization. Typically the president of the company, the CEO reports to the Chairman of the Board. of ALZA Corporation. "Clearly this round represents a significant vote of confidence in Avocet's future and a recognition that we have a major opportunity to alter the practice of coagulation coagulation (kōăg'y  lā`shən), the collecting into a mass of minute particles of a solid dispersed throughout a liquid (a sol), usually followed by the precipitation or management," said Matthew Collier, President and CEO of Avocet Medical. "With the completion of this investment, we now have considerable resources with which to support the impending im·pend intr.v. im·pend·ed, im·pend·ing, im·pends 1. To be about to occur: Her retirement is impending. 2. market launch of our AcuSure(TM) product line." Oral anticoagulants such as warfarin (Coumadin(TM)), taken on a chronic basis, have a narrow therapeutic range that can be upset by changes in diet, exercise or metabolic state, leaving patients drifting outside of the therapeutic range and therefore at risk of stroke or hemorrhage. To prevent this, patients on warfarin therapy should monitor the effect of their medication dosage with a prothrombin time test between once and twice each week. A large body of anticoagulant research shows that more frequent testing can reduce the incidence of hemorrhage or stroke from 12 to 14 percent per patient-year to less than two percent per patient-year. According to the American Heart Association American Heart Association (AHA), n.pr a national voluntary health agency that has the goal of increasing public and medical awareness of cardiovascular diseases and stroke, and thereby reducing the number of associated deaths and disabilities. , 40,000 strokes could be prevented each year among atrial fibrillation patients in the U.S. alone if warfarin were not underprescribed due to the current elevated complication rates. Avocet Medical has designed the AcuSure(TM) System to be used for anticoagulation monitoring. The AcuSure(TM) System is a small, easy-to-use diagnostic device that allows for frequent measurement of prothrombin prothrombin Carbohydrate-protein compound in plasma essential to coagulation. In response to bleeding, a complex series of clotting-factor interactions leads to its conversion by thromboplastin to thrombin, which transforms fibrinogen in plasma into fibrin. (blood clotting) time for patients on warfarin. The AcuSure PT-Pro has received U.S. Food and Drug Administration 510(k) clearance for professional use and a home-use 510(k) submission is currently pending with the FDA FDA abbr. Food and Drug Administration FDA, n.pr See Food and Drug Administration. FDA, n.pr the abbreviation for the Food and Drug Administration. . Olsten Health Services, North America's largest home health care company, will provide primary distribution and support services for the AcuSure(TM) systems in the U.S. |
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