Colibri Heart Valve Will Present at Upcoming 23rd Annual Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics Scientific Symposium

    BROOMFIELD, CO, November 04, 2011 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Colibri Heart Valve, LLC, a privately held medical device company, today announced that Dr. Bernard Chevalier will present an overview on the Colibri investigational transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) device at the 23rd Annual Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics (TCT) Scientific Symposium taking place in San Francisco November 7 - 11, 2011. Colibri Heart Valve has developed the world's first and only dry, pre-mounted and pre-packaged low profile, 14 French, transcatheter aortic heart valve that advances current TAVI technologies by incorporating advantages not available in any other device, either currently available or in known development.

Dr. Chevalier will join leading medical researchers and clinicians from around the world to present and discuss the latest developments in the field of interventional cardiology. He will present scientific evidence and preclinical data about Colibri's TAVI device as part of the panel "New and Novel Transcatheter Aortic Valve Systems" scheduled for Thursday, November 10, 2011 from 8:00 a.m. - 10:15 a.m. PT.

"Colibri's TAVI device offers compelling advantages over currently available systems, which may lead to lowering femoral complications and improving patient outcomes," said Dr. Chevalier. "I look forward to providing support and guidance to the Colibri team as they advance the clinical development program of their device, ultimately providing patients access to this important heart valve replacement option."

Dr. Chevalier, currently an attending cardiologist at the Institut Cardiovasculaire Paris-Sud, has also joined Colibri's Scientific Advisory Board along with Dr. Ziyad M. Hijazi, Professor of Pediatrics and Internal Medicine and Rush University Medical Center and Director, Rush Center for Congenital and Structural Heart Disease.

"Dr. Chevalier's experience in leading clinical trials and Dr. Hijazi's expertise in interventional cardiology have already proven invaluable to the development program for the Colibri TAVI device," added Joseph B. Horn, Colibri's president and chief executive officer. "With our strengthened scientific advisory board, we feel confident about Colibri's clinical development path and look forward to finalizing our plans for our first-in-human study in patients with symptomatic aortic valve stenosis who are candidates for TAVI."

Dr. Chevalier is a thought-leader in the field of interventional cardiology and is an expert in transcatheter heart valve implantation. Dr. Chevalier has provided key leadership to numerous important clinical trials in interventional cardiology and serves on boards and scientific committees of numerous organizations including the European Congress of Cardiology and the EuroPCR. His ongoing work in transcatheter valve procedures continues to provide key intelligence on the wider application of this approach to heart valve disease.

Dr. Ziyad M. Hijazi is known worldwide through an illustrious career in congenital and structural cardiac interventions, and his experience in clinical and investigational interventional cardiology has informed a prodigious collection of publications and original contributions to the field. Past Chief of Pediatric Cardiology at Tufts University, University of Chicago, and now Chief at Rush University Medical Center, he serves on numerous editorial and advisory boards and directs the PICS-AICS, the most important annual symposium of pediatric and adult structural heart disease. Dr. Hijazi has pioneered a number of interventional treatments for structural heart disease, including transcatheter pulmonary heart valve implantation. He served as the principal investigator for the pivotal U.S. trial of the Edwards transcatheter pulmonary valve, and his work on this procedure continues to guide its development.

About the Colibri TAVI Device
TAVI is likely to become an important treatment option in the US for heart valve replacement due to its minimally invasive nature, clinical efficacy, extensive patient experience as an approved procedure in Europe, and reduced procedural costs. Colibri's heart valve device advances current TAVI technologies by incorporating advantages not available in any other device, either currently available or in known development. These advantages are realized through unique features including a significant profile reduction compared to other currently available devices, a folded valve construct using minimal sutures, thin and durable low-profile tissue leaflets, a dry valve which is pre-mounted at manufacture and pre-packaged with the valve fully integrated on its delivery system. The proprietary double balloon technology allows stabilized valve deployment and adjustment capabilities for accurate valve placement. Colibri's proprietary tissue preparation process makes the Colibri TAVI device highly biocompatible and resistant to calcification.

About Colibri Heart Valve, LLC
Colibri Heart Valve, LLC is a privately held medical device company committed to the research and development of novel heart valve technologies, including the company's dry, pre-mounted, low profile, "package-to-patient" percutaneous Transcatheter Heart Valve (THV). The unique features of this system include its delivery technology and durable valve tissue, potentially providing major benefit by decreasing procedural vascular complications and improving overall TAVI outcomes. Colibri Heart Valve was founded by R. David Fish, MD, and David Paniagua, MD, pioneering interventional cardiologists.

Colibri's corporate headquarters and pre-commercialization facilities are located in Broomfield, Colorado with R&D located in Houston, Texas. For more information, visit: www.colibrihv.com.

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