Ishu Rao, M.D., brings wealth of clinical expertise during time of rapid company growth
MOUNT LAUREL, N.J. – March 10, 2020 Impulse Dynamics, a company dedicated to improving the lives of people with heart failure and developer of the innovative CCM™ therapy delivered by the Optimizer®Smart System, today announced the appointment of Ishu Rao, M.D., as medical director.
Dr. Rao is an accomplished, board-certified cardiac electrophysiologist who previously spent 17 years in clinical practice caring for heart failure patients, with a focus on interventional therapies. Dr. Rao received his cardiology training at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center in Torrance, Calif., and the Hospital of the Good Samaritan in Los Angeles after completing a residency at the Baylor College of Medicine in Houston. He earned his medical degree at Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia, after completing an undergraduate degree at the University of Pennsylvania.
“I have known Dr. Rao for nearly 20 years. He is a talented physician, with great skill in invasive electrophysiology and a keen interest in the development of new invasive cardiology devices,” said David Cannom, M.D., professor of clinical medicine at the Keck School of Medicine at the University of Southern California, former president of NASPE and director of cardiology at Good Samaritan Hospital in Los Angeles. “This is a perfect evolution for this talented young man.”
“I am delighted to join the leadership team at Impulse Dynamics and help contribute to the company’s mission to transform how heart failure is treated,” said Dr. Rao. “Having cared for thousands of patients firsthand for nearly two decades, I’ve seen the devastating burden of this condition on patients and their families. These patients have limited therapeutic options, but cardiac contractility modulation, or CCM therapy, can have a profound impact on their quality of life and is a reason for many of them to feel hopeful again.”
CCM therapy, delivered by the Optimizer Smart system, is a breakthrough heart failure treatment that is proven to improve quality of life for heart failure patients.1 CCM therapy sends precisely timed electrical pulses to the heart during the absolute refractory period of the beating cycle, just after the heart contracts. CCM therapy is specifically designed to improve systolic contraction in an effort to deliver more oxygen-rich blood to the body. Optimizer Smart was granted Breakthrough Device designation by the FDA and is the first and only FDA-approved device in the U.S. or elsewhere for the delivery of CCM therapy.
“We are thrilled to welcome Dr. Rao to the Impulse Dynamics team,” said Simos Kedikoglou, M.D., chief executive officer of Impulse Dynamics. “He is an outstanding leader in the cardiology community and will play an instrumental role in helping us establish CCM therapy as a new standard of care for treating heart failure.”
CCM therapy may be an appropriate treatment option for approximately 70 percent of NYHA Class III heart failure patients who remain symptomatic despite guideline-directed medical therapy.1
About the Optimizer® Integra CCM-D™ System and CCM® Therapy
The Optimizer Integra CCM-D System is an investigational device that combines CCM therapy and ICD therapy into one device. This device is being used in an FDA-approved Investigational Device Exemption (IDE) study and is not available for sale in the United States.
Impulse Dynamics currently offers the Optimizer system that is FDA-approved and CE-marked. The Optimizer system delivers CCM therapy — the company’s proprietary technology — to the heart. CCM therapy has been designed by Impulse Dynamics to improve the heart’s contraction, allowing more oxygen-rich blood to be pushed out through the body. CCM therapy is indicated to improve 6-minute hall walk, quality of life, and functional status of NYHA Class III heart failure patients who remain symptomatic despite guideline directed medical therapy, are not receiving Cardiac Resynchronization Therapy (CRT), and have a left ventricular ejection fraction ranging from 25% to 45%.
CCM therapy delivers non-excitatory electrical pulses from the implantable Optimizer device in a manner designed to improve heart contraction. CCM therapy sends unique electrical pulses to the heart cells during their absolute refractory period. Impulse Dynamics has completed numerous clinical studies, including several randomized controlled trials, and CCM therapy has been published in more than 120 peer-reviewed journal articles.
About Impulse Dynamics
Impulse Dynamics is dedicated to advancing the treatment of heart failure for patients and the healthcare providers who care for them. The company pioneered its proprietary CCM therapy, which uses the Optimizer technology platform to improve quality of life in heart failure patients. CCM therapy is delivered through the Optimizer system, which includes an IPG implanted in a minimally invasive procedure and approved for commercial use in the United States and 44 countries worldwide. More than 9,000 patients have received the therapy as part of clinical trials and real-world use, where it is proven to be safe and effective for heart failure patients with debilitating symptoms who otherwise have few effective options available to them. To learn more, visit www.ImpulseDynamics.com, or follow the company on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook.
Forward-looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements. All statements other than statements of historical facts contained in this press release are forward-looking statements. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by terms such as ‘‘may,’’ ‘‘will,’’ ‘‘should,’’ ‘‘expect,’’ ‘‘plan,’’ ‘‘anticipate,’’ ‘‘could,’’ ‘‘intend,’’ ‘‘target,’’ ‘‘project,’’ ‘‘contemplate,’’ ‘‘believe,’’ ‘‘estimate,’’ ‘‘predict,’’ ‘‘potential’’ or ‘‘continue’’ or the negative of these terms or other similar expressions, although not all forward-looking statements contain these words. Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements concerning potential benefits of CCM therapy, and CCM therapy combined with an ICD delivered via a single device (CCM-D), and the absence of risks associated therewith; the ability for CCM therapy and our products to fill a significant unmet medical need for patients with heart failure; and the short-term and long-term benefits of the Optimizer Integra CCM-D System and CCM therapy in patients with heart failure, as well as to the physicians treating those patients. These forward-looking statements are based on management’s current expectations and involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties that may cause our actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Other important factors that could cause actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially from those contemplated in this press release include, without limitation: the company’s future research and development costs, capital requirements and the company’s needs for additional financing; commercial success and market acceptance of CCM therapy; the company’s ability to achieve and maintain adequate levels of coverage or reimbursement for Optimizer systems or any future products the company may seek to commercialize; competitive companies and technologies in the industry; the company’s ability to expand its indications and develop and commercialize additional products and enhancements to its current products; the company’s business model and strategic plans for its products, technologies and business, including its implementation thereof; the company’s ability to expand, manage and maintain its direct sales and marketing organization; the company’s ability to commercialize or obtain regulatory approvals for CCM therapy and its products, or the effect of delays in commercializing or obtaining regulatory approvals; FDA or other U.S. or foreign regulatory actions affecting us or the healthcare industry generally, including healthcare reform measures in the United States and international markets; the timing or likelihood of regulatory filings and approvals; and the company’s ability to establish and maintain intellectual property protection for CCM therapy and products or avoid claims of infringement. The company does not undertake any obligation to update forward-looking statements and expressly disclaims any obligation or undertaking to release publicly any updates or revisions to any forward-looking statements contained herein. These forward-looking statements should not be relied upon as representing the company’s views as of any date subsequent to the date of this press release.
Impulse Dynamics (USA), Inc.
50 Lake Center Executive Park, 401 Route 73 N, ‐ Building 50 Suite 100
Marlton, NJ 08053
Phone: (856) 642‐9933
www.impulse‐dynamics.com
PUBLIC RELATIONS:
Hilary Schlimbach
Sr. Manager, Marketing Communications
Impulse Dynamics
isegal@impulsedynamics.com
856-642-9933
MARKETING OPERATIONS:
Rohan More
Global Vice President, Marketing
Impulse Dynamics
rmore@impulsedynamics.com
856-642-9933
References
1 Abraham WT, Kuck KH, Goldsmith RL, et al. A randomized controlled trial to evaluate the safety and efficacy of cardiac contractility modulation. JACC Heart Failure. 6(10), 874-883 (2018).
2 Campbell CM, Kahwash R, & Abraham WT. Optimizer Smart in the treatment of moderate-to-severe chronic heart failure. FutureCardiol. 16(1), 13–25 (2020)
3 Benjamin E.J., Blaha M.J., Chiuve S.E., et al. Heart disease and stroke statistics—2017 update: a report from the American Heart Association. Circulation 2017; 135: pp. e146-e603
4 Heidenreich PA, Trogdon JG, Khavjou OA, Butler J, Dracup K, Ezekowitz MD, et al. Forecasting the future of cardiovascular disease in the United States: a policy statement from the American Heart Association. Circulation. 2011;123(8):933–44.
