About Us

CardiaLen, Inc. was formed in 2008 to develop and commercialize pain-free cardioversion therapy, with a primary focus on atrial fibrillation (AF). The company is developing implantable low-energy (low voltage) pain-free atrial cardioverters to help address the major unmet needs of this condition.  AF is the most common cardiac arrhythmia worldwide and has been recently estimated to affect over 3.0 million people in the United States.  AF, unlike ventricular fibrillation (VF), is not immediately life threatening.  However, AF greatly increases the risk of stroke and premature death, impairs quality of life and generates high healthcare costs. Current therapies (drugs, external cardioversion, catheter ablation and surgery of various types) do not fully meet AF patient needs.

Pain-free operation is essential since AF patients typically remain conscious during episodes. No implantable cardioverter that focuses primarily on AF is currently available because it has previously not been possible to achieve painless cardioversion. The company’s low-voltage technology will also offer significant benefit in ventricular tachyarrhythmias. CardiaLen management plans to develop both atrial and ventricular applications in collaboration with strategic industry partners.

CardiaLen’s low-energy cardioversion technology is based on breakthrough work by Professor Igor Efimov, PhD, a world leader in cardiac arrhythmia research, currently at Washington University in St. Louis and previously at Case Western Reserve University.  Prof. Efimov and his research colleagues discovered that very low-voltage shock, applied in proprietary algorithms, induces virtual electrode polarization (VEP) at cardiac heterogeneities and opens a new approach to the long sought after goal of pain-free defibrillation.

CardiaLen operates out of administrative and clinical headquarters in St. Louis, Missouri, located at the Center for Emerging Technologies. This facility is situated very close to the BJC Health Care and the Washington University School of Medicine campuses.

CardiaLen also maintains facilities in St. Paul, Minnesota, where it contracts its product development and production of cardiac leads and defibrillator equipment required for its current pre-clinical testing program. This location provides access to the cardiac rhythm management device expertise concentrated in the Minneapolis-St. Paul Region.

CardiaLen will collaborate with specialized medical equipment manufacturing companies with expertise in cardiac rhythm management devices to produce the prototypes and next-stage devices it will require for its first-in-man short-term studies and for its longer-term clinical trials of implantable devices.

CardiaLen has financed its product development and preparation for clinical trials by raising more than $1.2 million in seed capital through angel investments in 2009 and 2010, $1.1 million from Broadview Ventures in first quarter 2011, and non-dilutive government grant funding in excess of $450,000.  The Company is currently seeking an additional $400,000 in seed financing in order to complete our First-In-Human studies.  Finally, CardiaLen will be raising its Series A financing in the Fall 2011 in preparation for clinical trials.