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MedUni Vienna spin-off wins Start-Up Track of aws Best of Biotech 2019

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(Vienna, 28 October 2019) Angel Valve Vienna (AVVie), a MedUni Vienna spin-off, has won the Start-up Track of aws Best of Biotech 2019 for its "Mitral Butterfly, a device implanted in a minimally invasive procedure to repair leaky mitral valves.

AVVie GmbH is a start-up specialising in medical devices that is concentrating on the development of minimally invasive implants for repairing heart valves. Mitral regurgitation occurs when the cusps of the mitral valve do not close tightly. While minor leaks are not normally considered to be a problem, more severe cases weaken the heart over time and can lead to heart failure.Werner Mohl from the Department of Surgery of the Medical University of Vienna (who worked as a surgeon until 2015) has been working intensively for several years now on minimally invasive solutions for correcting specific heart valve defects. With the Angel Valve concept, he and his team have successfully developed a new type of implant (Mitral Butterfly). The Mitral Butterfly implant is introduced by means of a catheter (thin tube) through the vascular system and placed on the beating heart, thus avoiding the need for open heart surgery. The procedure can reduce costs by shortening the time spent in hospital. The AVVie device has clear advantages over its competitors –-single-stage delivery as opposed to complicated, multi-stage delivery and a physiological design that allows the cusps to carry on operating in a normal pattern following implantation. The procedure for repairing the faulty valve takes less than 12 minutes.Patent application filed by MedUni ViennaRealisation of the "Angel Valve concept" started in 2015 as part of the PRIZE programme (AWS) at MedUni Vienna under the direction of Werner Mohl. Following a pre-seed phase (AWS funding) from 2015 to 2018, AVVie GmbH was founded in October 2018. The first clinical use of the valve is scheduled for 2021/2022.aws BoB (Best of Biotech) is an international business plan competition focussing on Life Sciences. It is organised by Life Science Austria (LISA) and implemented by Austria Wirtschaftsservice (aws) on behalf of the Austrian Federal Ministry for Digital and Economic Affairs.