China's Venus Medtech Establishes Cardiac Valve Research Institute and Receives Investment From Goldman Sachs

March 25, 2016—Venus Medtech Inc. of Hangzhou, China, announced that The Cardiac Valve Research Institute—a joint project of the company and the Second Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University (SAHZU) School of Medicine—has been launched in Wanlong Technological Park, which is located in the Binjiang district of Hangzhou, the capital of Zhejiang province in China. The institute, which will focus on minimally invasive treatment for heart diseases, is the first research entity that Venus Medtech has established in conjunction with a hospital. The first Chairman of The Cardiac Valve Institute is Prof. Wang Jian'an, MD, who is President of SAHZU.

The Cardiac Valve Research Institute is among Zhejiang’s "Provincial Enterprise Institutes" that will help to promote the clinical application of advanced heart valves and structural heart disease treatment technologies.

Venus Medtech also announced that Goldman Sachs, the global investment banking firm, has recently signed an investment agreement with the company. Goldman Sachs will invest $37 million to support Venus Medtech’s research and development efforts, along with commercialization of the company's cardiac valve products. In addition to Goldman Sachs, Venus Medtech has drawn support from various institutional investors, including Qiming Venture Partners, Sequoia Capital China, and Dinova Venture Capital.

According to the company, Venus Medtech's Venus A-Valve, with independent intellectual property rights, is the only transcatheter aortic valve solution meeting the China Food and Drug Administration's clinical requirements.

Venus Medtech's transcatheter pulmonary artery valve, Venus P-Valve, has also entered the clinical stage. Venus P-Valve is designed for interventional therapy for patients with severe pulmonary regurgitation after surgery to repair Tetralogy of Fallot. 

Enrollment of patients for a clinical trial is nearly complete. Over 40 clinical cases have been recorded in several countries, including the United Kingdom, Ireland, India, Thailand, Vietnam, and Indonesia. Venus Medtech plans to start patient enrollment for a pending European Union approval-oriented clinical research program in the first half of 2016.