Biophan acquires equity stake in MyoTech to accelerate commercialization of Myo-Vad

By Angela McDaniels

Seattle, Dec. 2 - Biophan Technologies Inc. said it has agreed to acquire a 40% interest in MyoTech LLC, the developer of the Myo-Vad cardiac assist device.

MyoTech will receive 4.9 million shares of Biophan stock and a cash payment of $2.225 million over a six-month period. Biophan has the option to acquire an interest in MyoTech of up to 54% for cash over the next two years.

The transaction will strengthen Biophan's position in the fast-growing, multi-billion worldwide market opportunity for cardiac assist devices, the company said.

"This agreement will enable us to accelerate the development and commercialization of the Myo-Vad cardiac assist device. We believe that this device has the potential to generate $100 million in annual revenue for Biophan in approximately five years, prior to which time Biophan expects to hold a majority position in MyoTech," Michael Weiner, chief executive officer of Biophan, said in a company news release.

The company said the Myo-Vad device has several advantages over current heart-assist devices:

• It is designed to restore full cardiac output to an arrested heart without coming into contact with circulating blood, which may reduce complications such as bleeding, clotting and stroke - problems that plague current heart-assist devices.

• It provides an option for quickly restoring cardiac output in patients who do not respond to standard resuscitation measures such as CPR and defibrillation, which may minimize serious damage to the brain and other organs.

• It is the only complete heart-assist device that is designed to be image compatible and safe for use with magnetic resonance imaging.

MyoTech expects the product to enter human clinical trials within 24 months and will seek a distribution relationship with a major device company within 12 to 24 months. Biophan's business development experience and contacts in the medical device industry are expected to accelerate commercialization of the Myo-Vad device, the company said.

Once the initial product is established in the acute heart failure markets, a follow-on version of the Myo-Vad will be introduced to provide long-term support capability to patients with chronic heart failure.

MyoTech also plans to introduce a minimally invasive deliverable version of the Myo-Vad, the company said.

MyoTech is a privately held company based in Rochester, N.Y., founded by a team of physicians and engineers to bring the Myo-Vad to market.

Biophan is a biotechnology company based in West Henrietta, N.Y., that develops technologies designed to make biomedical devices safe and image compatible with the magnetic resonance imaging environment.

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