SUNRISE, Fla., Dec. 16, 2008 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Bioheart, Inc. (Nasdaq:BHRT) announced today that it is planning to spin out or sell off its interest in several non-core technology platforms in order to intensify its strategic focus on the treatment of patients suffering from heart failure. Bioheart holds the rights to multiple patents and patents pending related to these non-core technologies as well as proprietary know-how and trade secrets. Animal data supporting the proof of concept for some of these technologies is also available from the Company.
The technologies planned for spin out or sell off include:
Biopace(tm) -- A biological pacemaker. MyoValve -- A cell seeding method for repairing and building biological heart valves. EndoCell -- A system for bedside preparation of adipose tissue for delivery of endothelial progenitor cells to the adventitia of coronary arteries for prevention of restenosis following balloon angioplasty, stenting or atherectomy. AortaCell(tm) -- Cell compositions and delivery systems for repairing aortic aneurysms or for reinforcing the neck area in aortas repaired with an endovascular stent graft.
In addition, Bioheart is seeking a strategic partner for the development of its bi-ventricular pacemaker technology, called MyoStim, which utilizes a patented electrical stimulation software program and an additional pacemaker lead to enhance cell transplantation.
Bioheart seeks to be the "Go-To" partner for heart failure specialists to deliver improved patient outcomes, quality of life and cost savings throughout the healthcare system. The Company is strategically focused on commercializing patented technologies for reducing and repairing heart muscle damage caused by heart attacks as well as marketing advanced heart failure monitoring devices including the Bioheart 3370 Heart Failure Monitor and the Bioheart-Monebo CardioBelt(tm) ECG Acquisition Device. Bioheart's core technologies are aimed at serving the heart failure patient population, estimated to be in excess of 25 million patients worldwide.
For more information please contact the business development department at Bioheart, Inc. by phone at (954) 835-1500.
About Bioheart, Inc.:
Bioheart, Inc. (Nasdaq:BHRT) is committed to delivering intelligent devices and biologics that help monitor, diagnose and treat heart failure and cardiovascular diseases. Its goals are to improve a patient's quality of life and reduce health care costs and hospitalizations. Specific to biotechnology, Bioheart is focused on the discovery, development and, subject to regulatory approval, commercialization of autologous cell therapies for the treatment of chronic and acute heart damage. Its lead product candidate, MyoCell(r), is an innovative clinical muscle-derived stem cell therapy designed to populate regions of scar tissue within a patient's heart with new living cells for the purpose of improving cardiac function in chronic heart failure patients. The Company's pipeline includes multiple product candidates for the treatment of heart damage, including Bioheart Acute Cell Therapy, an autologous, adipose tissue-derived stem cell treatment for acute heart damage, and MyoCell(r) SDF-1, a therapy utilizing autologous cells that are genetically modified to express additional potentially therapeutic growth proteins. For more information on Bioheart, visit www.bioheartinc.com.
Forward-Looking Statements:
Except for historical matters contained herein, statements made in this press release are forward-looking and are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, words such as "may," "will," "to," "plan," "expect," "believe," "anticipate," "intend," "could," "would," "estimate," or "continue," or the negative other variations thereof or comparable terminology are intended to identify forward-looking statements.
Investors and others are cautioned that a variety of factors, including certain risks, may affect our business and cause actual results to differ materially from those set forth in the forward-looking statements. These risk factors include, without limitation, (i) our ability to obtain additional financing; (ii) our ability to control and reduce our expenses; (iii) our ability to establish a distribution network for and commence distribution of certain products for which we have acquired distribution rights; (iv) our ability to timely and successfully complete our clinical trials; (v) the occurrence of any unacceptable side effects during or after preclinical and clinical testing of our product candidates; (vi) the timing of and our ability to obtain and maintain regulatory approvals for our product candidates; (vii) our dependence on the success of our lead product candidate; (viii) our inability to predict the extent of our future losses or if or when we will become profitable; (ix) our ability to protect our intellectual property rights; and (x) intense competition. The Company is also subject to the risks and uncertainties described in its filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including the section entitled "Risk Factors" in its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2007, as amended by Amendment No. 1 on Form 10-K/A and its Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q for the quarters ended March 31, 2008, June 30, 2008 and September 30, 2008.