CardiAQ Valve Technologies (CVT), a transcatheter heart valve company, which is developing the self-conforming and self-anchoring technology for transcatheter mitral valve implantation (TMVI), has established operations in Irvine, California.

CVT said that the 8,500-square-foot operation is a research, development and manufacturing facility with microbiology, biochemical, tissue-handling fixation, and tissue-valve-production capabilities. It includes two GMP-certified ‘clean rooms’ for immediate pilot production capability of tissue valves and catheters.

The CVT procedure is designed to be performed in a cardiac catheterization laboratory similar to angioplasty or stenting, resulting in less trauma to the patient and substantial cost-savings to the healthcare system.

Brent Ratz, president and CEO of CVT, said: “While there is much work to be done, we are extremely pleased with the acceleration of our TMVI platform development since the completion of our Series A funding. We look forward to benefiting from the tremendous resources afforded to CVT by our recent move to this facility, which was occupied by CoreValve until just last year.

“CVT is also fortunate to have bolstered its core team with the addition of several former senior technical executives from CoreValve. We look forward to now rapidly moving toward the final stages of completing our proprietary designs of a novel pericardial mitral valve and its corresponding catheter for percutaneous delivery.”