Ovalum Ltd. has launched its TraVerse micro-catheter in the US. It is the firm's first product to be sold. TraVerse is part of the company's CiTOP CiTop Guidewire for peripheral vasculature applications, for which the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted marketing approval in October 2007. CiTOP is used to open blocked arteries in the limbs.
Ovalum CEO Noam Shamay said, "TraVerse is a less specialized and innovative product, but it's quite possible that in terms of market size and sales, it will be greater than CiTOP. Since TraVerse has many applications, we're launching it more widely than CiTOP."
TraVerse is an especially thin and flexible micro-catheter that is inserted into narrow veins blocked by clots. The device diagnoses the problem, partly opens the blockage, takes a sample of the clot, and carries out other actions.
Shamay said that the TraVerse was one of the thinnest catheters in the world. An additional advantage is that its tip has shape memory, enabling it to be bent in advance in order to reach further sections of the vein.
Shamay and Ovalum CFO Eitan Finkelstein founded the Rehovot-based company in 2005. Shamay invented the device. He previous worked as a team leader at Medinol Ltd.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on March 5, 2008
© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2008