Neovasc Reducer™ for Refractory Angina Featured in Live Case Session at 10th Annual Congress of Update in Cardiology and Ca...

TSX Venture Exchange: NVC

VANCOUVER, March 17, 2014 /CNW/ - Neovasc Inc. (TSXV: NVC) today announced that its Neovasc Reducer™ product was featured in a "live case" broadcast at the 10^th Annual Congress of Update in Cardiology and Cardiovascular Surgery held in Antalya, Turkey. In the live case broadcast, Drs. Pierfrancesco Agostoni and Eric Duckers of the University Medical Center Utrecht in the Netherlands successfully implanted a Neovasc Reducer product in the coronary sinus of a 64-year old male patient suffering from refractory angina.

The Neovasc Reducer is intended for the treatment of refractory angina, a painful and debilitating condition that occurs when the coronary arteries deliver an inadequate supply of blood to the heart muscle, despite treatment with standard revascularization or cardiac drug therapies.

Neovasc CEO, Alexei Marko, commented, "This live case broadcast of a Reducer implantation in a cardiac patient with complex disease and no other therapeutic options attracted a great deal of attention at this international conference, with participants commenting on the relative simplicity and straightforward nature of the procedure. We were pleased that key opinion leaders in attendance from the Middle East and Europe had the opportunity to witness first-hand the feasibility of employing the Reducer as an innovative new treatment for the millions of patients disabled by refractory angina."

Refractory angina affects millions of patients worldwide, who typically lead severely restricted lives as a result of their disabling symptoms, and its incidence is growing. The Reducer provides treatment for angina symptoms by altering blood flow in the heart muscle's circulatory system, thereby increasing the perfusion of oxygenated blood to ischemic areas of the heart muscle. Placement of the Reducer is performed using a minimally invasive transvenous procedure that is similar to implanting a coronary stent and takes approximately 20 minutes.

The results of the COSIRA study, a multicenter, randomized, sham controlled study conducted to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of the Reducer will be presented as a Featured Clinical Research Presentation at the American College of Cardiology 63^rd Annual Scientific Session & Expo being held in Washington DC, March 29-31, 2014. Principal investigator Dr. Stefan Verheye will present the full results of the trial at a session being held on March 29 at 4:45pm ET, room 206.  In November, 2013, Neovasc announced topline data from the COSIRA study indicating that the trial had met its primary efficacy endpoint.

The live case transmission: "Live Transmissions - Complex Coronary Lesions from University Medical Center Utrecht, Holland", took place at the 10^th Annual Congress on March 14, 2014 at noon local time. Drs. Agostoni and Duckers performed the procedure at the University Medical Center Utrecht in the Netherlands. The 10^th Annual Congress of Update in Cardiology and Cardiovascular Surgery was held in Antalya, Turkey, March 13-16, 2014. For more information, visit www.uccvs2014.org.

About Neovasc Inc.

Neovasc Inc. is a specialty medical device company that develops, manufactures and markets products for the rapidly growing global cardiovascular marketplace. Its products include the Neovasc Reducer™ for the treatment of refractory angina and the Tiara™ transcatheter mitral value replacement device in development for the treatment of mitral regurgitation. In addition, Neovasc's advanced biological tissue products are widely used as key components in a variety of third-party medical products, such as transcatheter heart valves. For more information, visit: www.neovasc.com.

Statements contained herein that are not based on historical or current fact, including without limitation statements containing the words "anticipates," "believes," "may," "continues," "estimates," "expects," and "will" and words of similar import, constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, events or developments to be materially different from any future results, events or developments expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such factors include, among others, the following: third-party claims regarding our intellectual property, continued success of clinical trials, general economic and business conditions, both nationally and in the regions in which the Company operates; history of losses and lack of and uncertainty of revenues, ability to obtain required financing, receipt of regulatory approval of product candidates, ability to properly integrate newly acquired businesses, technology changes; competition; changes in business strategy or development plans; the ability to attract and retain qualified personnel; existing governmental regulations and changes in, or the failure to comply with, governmental regulations; liability and other claims asserted against the Company; and other factors referenced in the Company's filings with Canadian securities regulators, including in the Company's annual information form. Although the Company believes that expectations conveyed by the forward-looking statements are reasonable based on the information available to it on the date such statements were made, no assurances can be given as to the future results, approvals or achievements. Given these uncertainties, readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such forward-looking statements. The Company does not assume the obligation to update any forward-looking statements except as otherwise required by applicable law.

SOURCE Neovasc Inc.

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