Hamburg: Technology investor Earlybird has announced the completion of a Series A financing round of six million pounds in Miracor GmbH based in Vienna. Miracor has developed the PICSO (Pressure-controlled Intermittent Coronary Sinus Occlusion) medical device to benefit patients being treated for heart attacks or in heart failure. Along with Earlybird, the financing round was joined by Delta Partners from Ireland. The Series A funding will be used to conduct additional clinical trials and gain CE marking for the PICSO system.

Of the 59 million people worldwide who suffer from heart disease, more than 20 percent could benefit from PICSO therapy. The therapy has been extensively researched in pre-clinical and clinical studies and the results have consistently demonstrated positive outcomes in damaged heart tissue.

Miracor GmbH was founded by Prof. Dr. Werner Mohl, a cardiac surgeon at the Medical University of Vienna. Jon H. Hoem, the newly appointed CEO, is a seasoned medical device industry executive with 20 years� experience in the cardiac business. Jon said, "I am very excited about this opportunity. I have known Werner for 20 years and I believe this technology really has the potential to revolutionize the treatment of diseased hearts. With the backing of Earlybird and Delta Partners, we have not only secured an excellent international investment syndicate but gained access to their world class network and knowledge in the medical device field."

Commenting on the investment, Earlybird Partner, Thom Rasche said, "This therapeutic approach has the potential to help millions of patients. We look forward to supporting the management team in building the company and launching the technology with clinical opinion leaders globally. We are very pleased to make this investment as it is an ideal fit with our investment criteria where a prototype has been developed and the technology is clinically validated. Miracor has a broad patent portfolio, a new and very experienced management team and addresses a big unmet clinical need." Thom Rasche will take a seat on the Miracor board.

Joey Mason from Delta Partners commented, "We are very excited by the potential for the PICSO medical device. We look forward to supporting the team as they bring the therapy through the development process and to the market in the coming months and years."