Ajax Health Forms Cortex With $90 Million Investment

<p><strong><span class&equals;"legendSpanClass"><span class&equals;"xn-location">MENLO PARK<&sol;span><&sol;span><&sol;strong> &&num;8212&semi; Ajax Health announced the formation and funding of Cortex&comma; a medical technology company developing an integrated mapping and ablation solution suite for the treatment of atrial fibrillation &lpar;AFib&rpar;&comma; the most common heart rhythm disorder&comma; affecting more than 30 million patients worldwide&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Cortex has raised <span class&equals;"xn-money">&dollar;90 million<&sol;span> in funding commitments led by KKR and Hellman &amp&semi; Friedman &lpar;H&amp&semi;F&rpar; with participation by other investors including AI Life Sciences&comma; an affiliate of Access Industries&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Cortex brings together expert teams with complementary innovations in electrophysiology to accelerate the continued development and clinical validation of next-generation ablation solutions and differentiated AFib mapping technology&period; The fully integrated solution suite is designed to enable more precise therapy planning and delivery and optimize clinical outcomes and safety for AFib patients&comma; while simplifying workflows and improving procedural efficiency&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&&num;8220&semi;Cortex&&num;8217&semi;s vision is to enable more intelligent AFib treatment&comma;&&num;8221&semi; said <span class&equals;"xn-person">Duke Rohlen<&sol;span>&comma; CEO of Ajax Health and CEO of Cortex&period; &&num;8220&semi;We are developing solutions that prioritize precision&comma; simplicity&comma; and efficiency to simultaneously improve patient outcomes and lower procedural cost&period;&&num;8221&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Cortex is focused on developing diagnostic and pulsed field ablation catheters with a comprehensive mapping and navigation solution powered by <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;c212&period;net&sol;c&sol;link&sol;&quest;t&equals;0&amp&semi;l&equals;en&amp&semi;o&equals;4043399-1&amp&semi;h&equals;1333746739&amp&semi;u&equals;http&percnt;3A&percnt;2F&percnt;2Fwww&period;ablacon&period;com&percnt;2F&amp&semi;a&equals;Ablacon" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank" rel&equals;"nofollow noopener" aria-invalid&equals;"true">Ablacon<&sol;a>&&num;8216&semi;s innovative Electrographic Flow<sup>®<&sol;sup> &lpar;EGF&rpar; mapping technology&period; EGF mapping allows physicians to detect AFib sources and is designed to support personalized ablation therapy to potentially improve outcomes&period; The recently completed randomized&comma; controlled <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;c212&period;net&sol;c&sol;link&sol;&quest;t&equals;0&amp&semi;l&equals;en&amp&semi;o&equals;4043399-1&amp&semi;h&equals;3406195499&amp&semi;u&equals;https&percnt;3A&percnt;2F&percnt;2Fablacon&period;com&percnt;2Fthe-flow-af-multicenter-randomized-controlled-trial-shows-ablacons-electrographic-flow-egf-mapping-software-ablamap-results-in-improved-ablation-outcomes-in-persistent-atrial&percnt;2F&amp&semi;a&equals;FLOW-AF&plus;trial" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank" rel&equals;"nofollow noopener" aria-invalid&equals;"true"><i>FLOW-AF<&sol;i> trial<&sol;a> &lpar;NCT04473963&rpar; showed that EGF-guided treatment of AFib sources in persistent AFib patients improved freedom from AFib at one year post-ablation by 51&percnt; on an absolute basis compared with patients randomized to control&comma; who received conventional pulmonary vein isolation therapy only&period; Ablacon&&num;8217&semi;s latest Ablamap<sup>®<&sol;sup> X mapping system is 510&lpar;k&rpar; cleared&period; Following on the favorable results of <i>FLOW-AF<&sol;i>&comma; the company has launched the <i>RESOLVE-AF<&sol;i> trial &lpar;NCT05883631&rpar;&comma; a large&comma; international&comma; multi-center clinical trial to further evaluate benefits in AFib patients and support CE mark application&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;Duke Rohlen and the Ajax team have cultivated an exceptional ecosystem of engineers and clinical experts with a clear plan to bring impactful new technology to clinical settings&comma;” said <span class&equals;"xn-person">Ali Satvat<&sol;span>&comma; Partner&comma; Co-Head of Americas Health Care and Global Head of Health Care Strategic Growth at KKR&period; &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;We are pleased to continue our long-standing strategic partnership with Duke and join with a strong investor group to support Cortex as it pursues improved outcomes for cardiac arrhythmia patients&period;”<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>KKR and H&amp&semi;F are investing in Cortex through the Cordis Accelerator&comma; Cordis-X&comma; which was established in 2021 as part of their investment in Cordis&comma; a leading provider of cardiovascular and endovascular medical devices&period; KKR is investing additional capital in Cortex through its Health Care Strategic Growth Fund II&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;