SAN DIEGO and SAN CLEMENTE, Calif./March 12, 200 - Comerica (NYSE: CMA), a leading financial services company, and Cameron Health, a development stage medical device company, announced today that Comerica’s Technology and Life Sciences Division has provided the San Clemente company with a $3 million revolving line of credit and a $2 million equipment term loan.
"We are pleased to provide this credit facility to Cameron Health, which is developing technologies that will help physicians treat difficult medical problems," said Chris Woolley, senior vice president and Pacific Southwest regional manager of Comerica’s Technology and Life Sciences Division. "In today’s market, it is more difficult for early-stage companies to receive funding, but we remain committed to supporting venture-backed firms that offer innovative technologies, strong business plans and experienced management teams."
Cameron has developed an implantable cardiac defibrillator (ICD) that requires less skill to implant, markedly reduces follow-up care and offers a substantial reduction in procedure time compared to traditional ICDs. This device will be able to reach a broader population of physicians, including the 6,000 implanting cardiologists. Cameron is developing a family of devices that will afford patient treatment that has been, until now, unattainable with the current therapeutic modalities and technologies.
"This credit facility will be invaluable to us as we continue our mission of developing the next generation of implantable cardiac defibrillators for the treatment of sudden death, to provide unprecedented patient care ," said Cameron Health CEO Keegan Harper. "We are delighted to be working with a respected financial institution like Comerica, which really understands the life sciences market and thus can provide us with expertise above and beyond most other banks."
About Cameron Health
Cameron Health is a development-stage medical device company that is creating the next generation of implantable cardiac defibrillators (ICD) utilizing state-of-the-art technologies. Cameron's first product is a leadless ICD implanted only in patients’ subcutaneous tissue. Unlike current ICD’s the Cameron ICD is not surgically attached to the heart, thus substantially simplifying the implant procedure, and reducing surgical complications. The current ICD market is only twenty percent penetrated largely because of the skill required to implant current devices and the small number of physicians (1200) that can actually perform this type of procedure. The simple Cameron approach seeks to solve the under-penetration problem. ICD patients are seen predominantly by the 6,000 "implanting cardiologists" who treat patients that present following an MI (heart attack). These physicians can implant a pacemaker, but refer a patient on to an Electophysiologist (EP) for ICD implantation and treatment. Implanting cardiologists often decide that a complex ICD is not appropriate for the majority of heart attack survivors and choose not to refer the patient to an EP for an implant. For more information, visit http://www.cameronhealth.com/.
About Comerica’s Technology and Life Sciences Division
Comerica’s Technology and Life Sciences Division is one of the nation’s leading technology banking practices, offering a wide range of financial services tailored to corporate customers, entrepreneurs and professionals. Veteran bankers provide credit and financial services and products to young, growing, professionally backed technology and life sciences companies, as well as their more mature counterparts. From 18 offices located across the U.S., Comerica’s Technology and Life Sciences Division serves all major technology centers. Comerica is among the 20 largest banking companies in the nation, with $53 billion in assets as of December 31, 2002.
Media Contacts:
Keegan Harper, CEO
Cameron Health
(949) 940-4044
kharper@cameronhealth.com
or
Adrienne Moch
Pacifico (for Comerica’s Technology and Life Sciences Division)
(408) 293-8600 x319
amoch@pacifico.com
or
Keith Turner
Comerica Bank-California
(408) 556-5111
keith_turner@comerica.com
