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VentriPoint Launches Sales in France With First Install at Hopital Necker Enfants Malades


Published on 2012-08-15 04:23:00 - Market Wire
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August 15, 2012 07:00 ET

VentriPoint Launches Sales in France With First Install at Hopital Necker Enfants Malades

VentriPoint Appoints French Distributor

SEATTLE, WASHINGTON--(Marketwire - Aug. 15, 2012) - VentriPoint Diagnostics (TSX VENTURE:VPT) (OTCQX:VPTDF) is excited to announce the installation of its VMS™ heart analysis system in France at the Hôpital Necker Enfants Malades in Paris. Furthermore, Ventripoint has signed Cardio-Systèmes as a distributor for France. Cardio-Systèmes will engage and manage the customers in France on Ventripoint's behalf. The Ventripoint Medical System (VMS™) has been designed to evaluate and monitor heart function for congenital heart disease, such as Tetrology of Fallot (blue-baby syndrome) or Systemic Right Ventricle and recently approved Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension.

"We are pleased to start using the VMS™ at our facility in Necker Hospital.", said Professor Damien Bonnet, Chief of Pediatric Cardiology at Necker Hospital, "Access to MRI is limited at our site and VMS™ allows us to provide better and more efficient patient care." Professor Bonnet added, "The right ventricular volumes that are obtained from VMS™ are as accurate as MRI and we feel comfortable making clinical decisions using VMS™. VMS™ is easy to use and quick to acquire and analysis the data."

Yann de Tonquédec, President of Cardio-Systèmes said "My partner, Dr. Mirochnik, and myself are very excited to start distributing such a great product in France, it fills a market gap and we see good market potential in France". Dr. Mirochnik, also works at the echo lab of Hôpital Européen Georges Pompidou.

"We are actively engaging more customers in France and adding a reputable company such as Cardio-Systèmes will allow us to grow faster and better serve our customers by having a local presence." said Amol Karnick, Vice President, Sales and Business Development of Ventripoint. "We continue to grow our European network of reference centres and will be adding more distributors in various European countries."

Congenital heart disease affects about 8.2 per 1,000 newborns in Europe. Pulmonary Hypertension affects about 0.5 per 1,000 in the general population, though this is an underestimated according to published research studies.

In other news, VentriPoint reports the issuance of 250,000 option grants to Christine Deaton, CFO. The options have a strike price of $.17, duration of 5 years and will vest for 3 years.

About Hopital Necker Enfants Malades

The Necker Hospital has 400 beds dedicated to pediatrics and 200 beds for adults. With strong origins, Necker's teams have developed a high-level medical approach, supported by a unique synergy between the technical facilities, research units and clinical units. As a referral center for many rare diseases and complex diseases, the Necker Hospital shines beyond Paris and the Ile de France: more than 40% of hospitalized patients are from other provinces or abroad. By the end of 2012, Necker Hospital will be a large modern hospital, reconstructed around a new building "Pôle Mère-Enfant", with 5 stories and nearly 50,000 m2. It will house pediatric surgery, infant resuscitation, emergency, pediatric imaging, cardiology, nephrology, gastroenterology, maternity and neonatology.

About Prof. Damien Bonnet

Prof. Damien Bonnet is a Professor of Pediatric Cardiology at the Centre de Référence Malformations Cardiaques Congénitales Complexes, Hôpital Necker-Enfants Malades, in Paris. He received his MD in Cardiology (1993) and went on to complete his PhD in genetics (2000) specializing in the genetics of congenital heart disease. Since 2000, he has been head of the group for vascular remodeling in Hôpital Necker-Enfants Malades as well the head of the National Reference Centre for Complex CHD. He is a prominent member of the Société Francophone de Recherche en Pédiatrie (SFRP) from 1995-2004 and held the position of Président from 1998-2001, the Association of European Pediatric Cardiology (1998-2003), and President of the Working Group Basic Sciences and Genetics of Congenital Heart Diseases (2000). Prof. Bonnet's research focuses on the genetics of CHD, fetal cardiology and vascular physiology. Prof. Bonnet has more than 300 publications in peer-reviewed journals including several in high impact journals such as Nature Genetics and has written 70 book chapters and other publications.

About Cardio-Systemes

Cardio-Systèmes started as M2S, at the end of 1980 in the production and sales of custom packs and pressure sets and then in 1993 M2S was renamed to Cardio-Systèmes and started selling ECG Holder system and Tomtec. Associated with Dr. Mirochnik, a Ukrainian cardiologist working at the echo lab of Hôpital Européen Georges Pompidou. Dr. Mirochnik is a well-known specialist in 3D reconstruction. He has recently published a book on Speckle Tracking Echocardiography.

About VentriPoint Diagnostics Ltd.

VentriPoint has created a diagnostic ultrasound tool to monitor patients with heart disease, a leading cause of death in developed countries. VMS™ is the first cost-effective and accurate diagnostic tool for measuring right ventricle heart function. Congenital heart disease in children is the first application in a suite of applications for all major heart diseases including pulmonary hypertension, cardiovascular disease and heart failure - a multi-billion dollar market potential. Canada and Europe (CE Mark) have granted approval for the sale of its VMS™ diagnostic tool and is pursuing the US-FDA approval through the 510(k) process.

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS: The statements made in this press release that are not historical facts contain forward-looking information that involves risk and uncertainties. All statements, other than statements of historical facts, which address VentriPoint's expectations, should be considered forward-looking statements. Such statements are based on management's exercise of business judgment as well as assumptions made by and information currently available to management. When used in this document, the words "may", "will", "anticipate", "believe", "estimate", "expect", "intend" and words of similar import, are intended to identify any forward-looking statements. You should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. These statements reflect a current view of future events and are subject to certain risks and uncertainties as contained in the Corporation's filings with Canadian securities regulatory authorities. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements. The Corporation undertakes no obligation, and does not intend, to update, revise or otherwise publicly release any revisions to these forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date hereof, or to reflect the occurrence of any unanticipated events. Although management believes that expectations are based on reasonable assumptions, no assurance can be given that these expectations will materialize.

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.



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