JenaValve Technology, Inc., a privately-held, venture-backed developer, manufacturer and marketer of transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) systems for the treatment of aortic valve disease, announced today that it has secured an expansion to its Series C venture round of $10 million, increasing the total amount raised in the round from $62.5 million to $72.5 million.

New investors participating in the expansion of the round are UK-based Valiance Asset Management and Belgium-based RMM. Current investors participating in the financing round include Edmond de Rothschild Investment Partners; Atlas Venture Fund; NeoMed Management; VI Partners AG; Sunstone Capital A/S; Gimv (GIMB.EN), a publicly traded investment company; Legend Capital and Omega Funds.

The company also announced the addition of a new director and a board observer in conjunction with the financing round. Industry veteran Jan Keltjen was appointed to the JenaValve board of directors, effective December 30, 2013. In addition, renowned life sciences entrepreneur and financier Rudi Mariën has been appointed as an observer to the board.

'JenaValve continues to build momentum in the European TAVI market with our novel transapical TAVI system,' said Helmut J. Straubiger, CEO of JenaValve Technology. 'As we continue to work to gain clinical experience with our transfemoral TAVI system and build out international regulatory and commercial programs, we welcome the participation of new world-class investors and the governance and experience of Mr. Keltjens and Mr. Mariën as director and board observer, respectively.'

Mr. Keltjens is the chairman and CEO of Steering Brain Stimulation (Sapiens), a medical device company pioneering brain stimulation products. He has a strong track record in the medical device sector and more than 30 years of management experience, including the role of president and CEO of Endosense SA, which was acquired by St. Jude Medical in August 2013. He has also worked as CEO and/or chairman in a number of medical device companies worldwide, including CryoCath Technologies Inc., Montreal, Canada (acquired in 2008 by Medtronic); AngioDynamics Inc, Albany, New York, U.S.; and Surpass Medical Ltd., Tel Aviv, Israel/Sunrise, Florida, U.S. (acquired in 2012 by Stryker).

Mr. Mariën was co-founder, reference shareholder and chairman of Innogenetics, and has been the founder, shareholder and managing director of several clinical reference laboratories. Currently, he is managing director of Barc NV, a leading international centralized clinical laboratory exclusively dedicated to pharmaceutical studies. He has different mandates as CEO and director at Barc USA, Barc Inc, Barc RSA and Laboraco BVBA. He is vice president of Cerba European Lab and president and CEO of Gengest Bvba and Biovest ComVa. Through his management company, Gengest BVBA, he has board mandates in different public and private biotech companies.

About TAVI

Transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) systems have already yielded nearly $1 billion in revenues worldwide and the market is expected to grow to over $3 billion in 20161. Clinicians are now focused increasingly on TAVI technical and procedural refinements and advancements found in second-generation products such as JenaValve's that address and resolve issues including ease of implantation, the need for post-procedure pacemaker implantation and post-implant paravalvular leakage.

About the JenaValve™ TAVI System

The JenaValve is a true second-generation catheter-based aortic valve implantation system engineered and manufactured to the highest quality standards. The JenaValve transapical TAVI system is currently being sold in Europe and other markets worldwide. The Company's transfemoral TAVI system entered into a first-in-man clinical study at the end of 2013 and is anticipated to be commercially available for sale in 2015.

The JenaValve prosthesis consists of a natural aortic porcine root bioprosthesis fitted with an outer porcine pericardial patch, a so-called skirt, before being sewn onto a Nitinol self-expanding stent. The high-quality bioprosthesis is durable, ensuring long-term aortic valve function.
JenaValve's unique '3-feeler element' allows the clinician to accurately position the prosthesis in the anatomically correct position during implantation thus ensuring the correct implantation height and a precise sub-coronary alignment within the patient's native valve.
JenaClip™ anchoring and clamping mechanism allows the prosthesis to be clamped onto the patient's native valve leaflets enabling the JenaValve to be firmly anchored in the correct anatomical position and provide active fixation and resistance to migration.
The JenaValve implantation is conducted on the beating heart. Hemodynamic flow is maintained without cardiac arrest and rapid pacing is not required during the procedure. The low profile and the open cell design of the stent prosthesis ensures open flow to the coronaries after the implantation. The JenaValve is available in three sizes, 23mm, 25mm and 27mm, covering aortic valve annuli from 21mm to 27mm.
JenaValve is retrievable and repositionable thereby contributing to a successful procedure and confidence of the clinician.

About JenaValve Technology, Inc.

JenaValve Technology, Inc., a U.S. corporation with primary operations in Munich, Germany, develops, manufactures and markets transcatheter aortic valve implantation systems (TAVI) to treat patients suffering from aortic valve disease. JenaValve was founded in 2006 by cardiologists and inventor's Prof. Hans R. Figulla, M.D. and Prof. Markus Ferrari, M.D. The company's transapical aortic valve system is CE marked and currently marketed in Europe and other markets worldwide. JenaValve is backed by world-class U.S., European and Asian investors. Additional information is available at www.jenavalve.com.