CardiAQ Valve Technologies (CVT) Elects Rob Michiels as a Director.

Former CoreValve President and COO Says CVT's Transcatheter Mitral Valve Implantation (TMVI) Platform May Be "The Next Big Thing" in the Cardiac Cath Lab

"Certainly, Rob Michiels is one of the most experienced, most successful executives in the cardiovascular industry." J. Brent Ratz, President and CEO, CVT 

WINCHESTER, Mass. -- CardiAQ Valve Technologies (CVT), which is developing the world's first self-conforming and self-anchoring technology for Transcatheter Mitral Valve Implantation (TMVI), today announced that it has elected Rob Michiels to serve on its Board of Directors, effective immediately. Until April 2009, Michiels was Chief Operating Officer at CoreValve, which was acquired by Medtronic for $700 million plus milestone payments.

"The participation of Rob Michiels underscores the considerable opportunity CVT has in seeking to become the first company to offer a non-surgical replacement alternative for treating mitral regurgitation," said Arshad Quadri, M.D., CVT's Founder, Chairman and Chief Medical Officer (CMO). "Although more than two million people in the U.S. alone are diagnosed with MR, only one out of 25 patients is able to be treated. This enormous treatment gap is primarily due to the risks associated with currently available surgical techniques," added Dr. Quadri, who is a practicing cardiothoracic surgeon at St. Francis Hospital, Hartford, Conn.

"We have identified a $1 billion market that consists of MR patients who would be suitable for our TMVI approach," said Brent Ratz, CVT's Co-Founder, President and CEO. "The addition of Rob Michiels to our growing team is tremendous validation of our TMVI platform. Because of his early endorsement and subsequent hands-on development experience in the percutaneous aortic valve replacement space, Rob is one of the leading industry figures in the field of transcatheter valve technologies. His long track record of success in the medical device industry will be of great value to CVT."

"In terms of CVT's technology approach and market opportunity, I see very strong similarities to my recent experience at CoreValve," said Rob Michiels. "While several companies are attempting to develop percutaneous approaches to repair the mitral valve, I believe these repair technologies will not only have limited applicability due to the heterogeneous nature of MR disease, but also will have a difficult time demonstrating efficacy equivalent to surgical repair. CVT's non-surgical valve implantation approach may represent a disruptive technology in the mitral valve sector. Ultimately, there is no doubt in my mind that in the near future all heart valve therapy will shift toward less-invasive approaches, and I believe that CVT is uniquely positioned to offer the best transcatheter technology for the treatment of Mitral Regurgitation."

About CardiAQ Valve Technologies

Privately held CVT, headquartered in Winchester, Mass., has developed a proprietary system for Transcatheter Mitral Valve Implantation (TMVI). Through the combination of a unique anchoring mechanism and a novel delivery catheter, physicians will be able to accurately and securely implant a new mitral valve within a beating heart, thus avoiding open-heart surgery. TMVI is designed to be performed in a cardiac catheterization laboratory similar to angioplasty or stenting, resulting in less trauma to the patient and substantial cost-savings to the healthcare system.