Fannin Partners LLC

Industry veteran brings expertise in commercialization, operations, business development and finance Company continues to focus on DRAIN-HF pivotal IDE trial and preparing for US commercialization of its percutaneous mechanical circulatory support (pMCS) technology HOUSTON, Sept. 9, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Procyrion™, Inc., a medical device company dedicated to improving outcomes for patients with cardiac and renal impairment, announced today the appointment of Lucas Buchanan to the company's Board of Directors. Mr. Buchanan is a seasoned MedTech executive and experienced board member and is currently the Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer at Silk Road Medical, a medical device company that pioneered transcarotid artery revascularization (TCAR). "We are thrilled to have an accomplished leader like Lucas join the Procyrion Board," said Gary F. Burbach, Chair of the Board of Directors, Procyrion. "Lucas' deep industry experience will be an important asset to the Board and company as we work together to make the groundbreaking Aortix therapy available for patients with acute decompensated heart failure." Mr. Buchanan's appointment to Procyrion's BOD follows the closing of $57.7 million in Series E financing led by Fannin Partners. The funds support the ongoing DRAIN-HF pivotal IDE trial, internal R&D programs, and commercialization preparation of the Aortix™ pMCS device. Aortix is a catheter-deployed pump designed to directly increase perfusion to the kidneys while unloading the heart and improving cardiac performance. The innovative design harnesses fluid entrainment to pump blood without the need for a valve, delivering a therapeutic benefit via a physiologically natural mechanism of action for acute decompensated heart failure (ADHF) patients who remain congested despite standard medical therapy (cardiorenal syndrome or CRS). "These diuretic resistant heart failure patients, who have failed available standard-of-care therapies, are the most difficult to treat. The novel design of Aortix has demonstrated promising results in early studies and offers patients and their physicians a much-needed treatment option," said Eric S. Fain, MD, President and Chief Executive Officer, Procyrion. "Lucas' insights on commercialization, financial stewardship and corporate strategy will be of tremendous value as we work to complete enrollment in the DRAIN-HF trial and prepare for commercialization of the Aortix pump." At Silk Road Medical, which recently announced a definitive agreement to be acquired by Boston Scientific, Mr. Buchanan leads manufacturing and operations, finance and accounting, IT, commercial operations and analytics, health economics and reimbursement, and corporate development efforts. His background includes investing and commercial roles at The Vertical Group, Impax Laboratories, Medtronic and Ernst & Young. Mr. Buchanan currently serves on the Board of Directors for Endologix and as a strategic advisory board member of CRG LP. He holds a BA in Economics from Duke University and an MBA in Health Care Management from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. "I am honored to join the Procyrion team as they progress and achieve milestones to make the Aortix pump available to CRS patients and clinicians who have exhausted all other treatment options," said Mr. Buchanan. "I look forward to sharing my perspectives as we work to bring this incredible technology to market." About Procyrion Procyrion™, Inc. is a privately held medical device company dedicated to providing effective treatment options for patients with cardiac and renal impairment. The company is developing the Aortix™ percutaneous mechanical circulatory support device, a catheter-deployed pump technology that uniquely harnesses fluid entrainment to pump blood to address multiple conditions with significant unmet needs. Aortix is limited by Federal law to investigational use only and is not approved for sale in any geography. Please visit for more information. Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements This press release may contain predictions, estimates or other information that might be considered forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements are not a guarantee of future performance. SOURCE Procyrion

Procyrion’s Aortix impeller pump resides in the patient’s aorta to boost circulation to the kidneys, breaking the feedback loop where a weakened heart slows down the body's ability to remove excess fluids, and in turn increases cardiac workload. Procyrion has assembled $57.7 million in proceeds to continue the pivotal trial of its miniaturized pumps to help maintain blood flow in patients suffering from severe heart failure. The company’s series E round was led by Fannin Partners, alongside backing from previous investors such as Bluebird Ventures, and includes the conversion of $10 million in previous interim financing. Procyrion’s Aortix percutaneous, catheter-based impeller pump resides in the patient’s descending aorta within the chest, with the goal of boosting oxygen circulation to the kidneys and taking pressure off of the cardiac muscle.  This helps to break the feedback loop where hampered blood flow to the kidneys slows down their ability to remove excess fluids from the body—which can in turn increase the workload on the weakened heart—among patients who are resistant to standard diuretic medications.  “Approximately 25% of the millions of patients admitted to the hospital with [acute decompensated heart failure] are unable to be successfully treated with standard of care therapies, yet there is a lack of effective treatment options available, leading to very poor outcomes,” Procyrion President and CEO Eric Fain said in a statement.  The company also estimates that up to 25% of patients considered clinically congested after four days of medical therapy will return to the hospital or die within 30 days after discharge. “Aortix therapy is uniquely suited for treating [cardiorenal syndrome] patients and this latest round of investment will enable the company to make significant progress toward commercialization of our technology,” Fain said.  Procyrion announced it had begun enrolling its first patients into the pivotal, randomized study late last November, with a goal of over 260 participants. The trial, comparing Aortix therapy to high-dose diuretics alone, also includes a registry for end-stage heart failure patients who are not considered candidates for a heart transplant or left ventricular assist device implant due to excessive fluid retention and poor kidney function.  The study is expected to be completed by the end of 2025. The series E funding is also slated to help improve Aortix’s manufacturability and prepare the company for commercialization.  In March 2023, the Houston-based Procyrion presented clinical data from 18 patients demonstrating fluid loss and improvements in kidney and heart function in the 30 days after receiving inpatient Aortix therapy for an average of 4.6 days.

Funding to support the DRAIN-HF pivotal IDE trial evaluating the company's Aortix pump, internal R&D programs to improve manufacturability, and commercialization preparation HOUSTON, Feb. 5, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Procyrion™, Inc., a medical device company dedicated to improving outcomes for patients with cardiac and renal impairment, announced today the completion of a $57.7 million Series E funding round, including the conversion of $10.0 million of interim financing. These funds will be used to support the ongoing DRAIN-HF pivotal IDE trial evaluating the Aortix™ percutaneous mechanical circulatory support (pMCS) device in patients with acute decompensated heart failure (ADHF) who remain congested despite standard medical therapy (cardiorenal syndrome or CRS). In addition, funds will support internal programs to improve product manufacturability and to prepare for commercialization. The round was led by Fannin Partners in partnership with new and existing family/multi-family office investors. The Series E financing also included significant participation from returning investors including Bluebird Ventures and an undisclosed strategic investor. Continue Reading Series E funding to support the DRAIN-HF pivotal IDE trial evaluating the company’s Aortix percutaneous mechanical circulatory support (pMCS) device, internal R&D programs to improve manufacturability, and commercialization preparation. "Approximately 25% of the millions of patients admitted to the hospital with ADHF are unable to be successfully treated with standard of care therapies, yet there is a lack of effective treatment options available, leading to very poor outcomes. Aortix therapy is uniquely suited for treating CRS patients and this latest round of investment will enable the company to make significant progress toward commercialization of our technology," said Eric S. Fain, MD, President and Chief Executive Officer, Procyrion. "We thank our investors for recognizing the engineering and clinical achievements to date, as well as the potential of Aortix to be a truly groundbreaking advancement to break the vicious CRS cycle and improve the outcomes in these most challenging-to-manage heart failure patients who currently have no proven therapeutic options." Patients with CRS, which is characterized by resistance to standard of care intravenous diuretic therapy,1 experience a negative cycle where the underlying heart failure leads to reduced blood flow to the kidneys, causing the kidneys to become less effective at removing excess fluid from the body, which further stresses the heart. Effective treatment options for CRS are lacking, as evidenced by up to a 25% rate for heart failure rehospitalization or mortality at 30 days2,3 for those patients who remained clinically congested after 96 hours of standard of care medical therapy and were discharged from the hospital.1 Aortix is a catheter-deployed pump that is placed in the descending thoracic aorta and designed to directly increase perfusion to the kidneys while unloading the heart and improving cardiac performance. Its innovative design harnesses fluid entrainment to pump blood without the need for a valve, delivering a therapeutic benefit via a physiologically natural mechanism of action. In the Aortix CRS Pilot Study, which was published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology: Heart Failure, patients demonstrated rapid decongestion with substantial removal of excess fluid and improved hemodynamics, as well as significant improvements in kidney function, cardiac function, and patient-reported assessment of shortness of breath sustained out to 30 days after treatment with the Aortix pump. "Approximately 500,000 patients in the US who are admitted to the hospital with cardiorenal syndrome are unable to be successfully treated with current available therapies and suffer high rates of mortality and heart failure rehospitalization," said Leo Linbeck III, Chairman and Founder of Fannin Partners and a Procyrion Board Member. "We are pleased to lead this round as we see enormous commercial potential for Aortix and look forward to seeing the results of the DRAIN-HF study with the goal of demonstrating improved patient outcomes, which should also reduce the burden on the overall healthcare system." About Procyrion Procyrion™, Inc. is a privately held medical device company dedicated to providing effective treatment options for patients with cardiac and renal impairment. The company is developing the Aortix™ percutaneous mechanical circulatory support device, a catheter-deployed pump technology that uniquely harnesses fluid entrainment to pump blood to address multiple conditions with significant unmet needs. Aortix is limited by Federal law to investigational use only and is not approved for sale in any geography. Please visit for more information. About Fannin Fannin is a life science product development group, with a dozen programs/platforms at different stages of development. Fannin advances its pipeline both internally and through Fannin-founded entities. In the last decade, Fannin programs have sourced approximately $225 million of funding, with about $75 million from grants and $150 million from private investors. Fannin's innovative talent development program has also grown to become one of the largest of its kind, with more than 320 alumni active in pharma/biotech, medical device/medtech, and venture capital. For more information, visit . Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements This press release may contain predictions, estimates or other information that might be considered forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements are not a guarantee of future performance. References: Cooper et al. Clin Cardiol. 2023 Jul 18. DOI: 10.1002/clc.24080 Bart et al., N Engl J Med 2012; DOI: 10.1056/NEJMoa1210357 Wattad et al., Am Journal of Cardiol 2015; DOI: 10.1016/j.amjcard.2015.01.019 SOURCE Procyrion