Paragon Intellectual Properties Announces
Funding Commitments of $15 Million
Research and Development Center to Open in Carlsbad, California;
Scientific Advisory
Board Announced
Charleston, West Virginia – October 16, 2006 - Paragon Intellectual Properties, LLC (Paragon IP), the holding company for six medical device development subsidiaries, each possessing highly specialized and innovative intellectual property, is pleased to announce today the attainment of initial commitments of $15 million in funding. The investments come primarily from private investors in West Virginia in addition to equity stakes from two major medical device manufacturers. This funding will enable Paragon IP to obtain the engineering talent and infrastructure required to fulfill its near-term goal of optimizing and commercializing two of its pioneering therapies in the rapidly expanding field of minimally invasive treatments for cardiovascular disease.
“We are pleased to have achieved this funding milestone, which will allow Paragon IP to accelerate its mission of giving hope to patients with complex medical conditions through a pioneering device development model,” said Paragon IP founder and CEO Mark C. Bates, M.D.
Paragon IP business operations will remain in Charleston. To accommodate growth, the research and development team spearheaded by Chief Science Officer Kent Stalker is opening a new research facility in Carlsbad, CA.
Paragon IP’s primary focus has been the acquisition and re-design of the revolutionary Biflex bistable stent, the world’s first balloon-expandable crush-resistant stent. The Biflex system allows for delivery of a crush-resistant nickel-titanium stent with a balloon catheter, thereby enabling accurate stent placement and the reduction of 1-2 procedural steps. Paragon IP’s stent subsidiary, Biflex Hybrid Stent Systems, will initiate clinical trials on the Biflex stent in 2007. Paragon IP’s Protection Solution subsidiary has developed breakthrough technology in the field of minimally invasive treatment of renal artery disease and peripheral arterial disease.
Scientific Advisory Board Announced
Paragon IP also announced today the formation of a new Scientific Advisory Board to support its mission of finding and developing breakthrough innovative solutions to complex medical problems. Initially the board will be tasked with optimizing the performance characteristics and safety profiles of the Paragon IP stent and embolic protection systems.
“I am honored to work with this esteemed group of world experts who are not only considered pioneers in the field but who are also well known for working under the mantle of the highest ethical standards,” said Bates. “This assembly of clinical, academic and scientific thought leaders will greatly enhance Paragon’s ability to deliver on its mission.”
The following physicians have joined Paragon IP’s Scientific Advisory Board:
- Gary Ansel, MD, Clinical Director of Peripheral-Vascular Interventions, Division of Cardiology at Riverside Methodist Hospital;
- Giancarlo Biamino, MD, Chairman of the Gruppo Villa Maria Endovascular in Cortignola, Italy;
- Peter Gaines, MD, Senior Interventional Radiologist at the Sheffield Vascular Institute and Professor of Vascular Radiology at Sheffield Hallam University;
- William Gray, MD, Associate Professor of Clinical Medicine at Columbia University College and Director of Endovascular Services at New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center;
- Michael Jaff, DO, Assistant Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and Director of Vascular Medicine at the Massachusetts General Hospital;
- Takao Ohki, MD, PhD, Professor and Chief of the Department of Vascular Surgery at Jikei University School of Medicine;
- Juan Parodi, MD, Professor of Surgery and Radiology, Washington University School of Medicine;
- Stephen Ramee, MD, FACC, Director of the Cardiac Catheterization Laboratory and Section Head of the Interventional Cardiology at Ochsner Foundation Hospital;
- Calvin Saravis, PhD, Associate Professor of Surgery, Emeritus, Harvard Medical School;
- Mark
Wholey, MD, Chairman of the Pittsburgh Vascular Institute.
About Paragon IP
Paragon Intellectual Properties (www.paragon-ip.com) was founded in 2004 by Mark C. Bates M.D., initially as a medical device incubator to cultivate some of Bates’ own pending or issued patents. The original Paragon IP companies included Global Stem Cell Solutions, LLC, Nanotech Catheter Solutions, LLC, Renal Protection Solutions, LLC, Spinal Cord Injury Solutions, LLC and Temporary Intravascular Drug Delivery Systems, LLC. In 2005, Paragon IP formed Biflex Hybrid Stent Systems, LLC to acquire the Biflex stent technology. The Paragon IP team has successfully redesigned the Biflex stent into a balloon-expandable crush-resistant nickel-titanium platform with widely recognized potential to revolutionize treatment of lower extremity disease and carotid artery disease.
Contact Information:
Mark C. Bates, M.D., FACC, FSCAI
Chief Executive Officer
Paragon Intellectual Properties, LLC
Phone: 304-720-2678
Email: mbates@paragon-ip.com
Web site: www.paragon-ip.com
Peter M. Hamilton
Chief Operating Officer
Paragon Intellectual Properties, LLC
Phone: 304-720-2678
Email: phamilton@paragon-ip.com
Source: Paragon Intellectual Properties, LLC |
