ROSH-HAAYIN, Israel, March 8, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- SoniVie, an Israeli startup company developing a novel system for the treatment of pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH), announced today that it has successfully completed the first two procedures in its First In Human (FIH) multi-center clinical trial.

SoniVie developed a dedicated therapeutic catheter (TIVUS - Therapeutic Intra-Vascular Ultrasound) that offers a unique treatment for PAH, a progressive and fatal illness with no cure, to date. Patients with this disease have an average life expectancy of five years. Procedures were performed as part of a clinical study which will include 15 patients in leading centers in Europe (Belgium, UK, Austria) and Israel with a 1 year follow up period. The first procedures were performed by Dr. Pr. Jean-luc Vachiery, at Hôpital Erasme, Brussels Belgium, a large center in Europe for the treatment of pulmonary hypertension.

SoniVie was founded by Accelmed, as part of its Targeted Innovation investment model. Following Mori Arkin's recommendation, Accelmed, along with leading experts in the field of cardiology, identified and spun out from Cardiosonic Inc. technology originally developed for Renal Denervation to control systemic blood pressure, into the field of pulmonary hypertension. Dr. Martin Leon from the Center for Interventional Vascular Therapy Columbia University Medical Center / New York-Presbyterian Hospital, a cardiologist who is considered the world's most influential interventional cardiologist, is the Company's Medical Director. To date, Accelmed has invested approximately $3 million in SoniVie.
Pulmonary hypertension is a disease characterized by stiffening of the small blood vessels of the lungs which causes an elevated pulmonary-artery pressure leading to deteriorated functioning of the heart, with a consequent average survival rate of five years. In the US alone there are approximately five million patients suffering from PAH while current drug treatments are suited only to a small sub group of several tens of thousands of patients. The market potential is estimated at $6.5 billion.

SoniVie's TIVUS catheter is inserted into the pulmonary artery, in a catheterization procedure, and selectively damages nerves associated with disease activity without touching the vessel walls or damaging the adjacent tissues. This treatment may significantly slow down the disease progression.

Assaf Bernstein, CEO of SoniVie, said: "We are excited about the completion of the first two therapeutic procedures in patients. The clinical team will monitor the patients in accordance with the clinical protocol and we hope to report clinical improvement in these patients and others over the coming year."

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