Toronto, Ontario - The Newswire - February 16, 2021 - Ventripoint Diagnostics Ltd. ("Ventripoint" or the "Company"), (TSXV:VPT) (OTC:VPTDF) is pleased to provide a corporate update on sales and marketing activities in China by our joint-venture partner Yutian Medical Shanghai Inc. (“Yutian”).
Yutian has informed the Company that it has achieved a number of milestones in its path from development to commercialization. Some of these developments are noted herein. Yutian has developed a series of products based upon Ventripoint’s knowledge-based reconstruction technology under the name QAS™ to specifically meet the demands of the Chinese market using components sourced in China. They have built and obtained a license for a manufacturing facility in Ma-anshan. The QAS (right ventricle only) has received Chinese FDA (“CFDA”) approval and the QAS analysis procedure has been added to the provincial medical billing catalog in Anhui Province (a province of 62 million people).
With market clearance obtained, 2020 was a very successful and foundational year for Yutian’s marketing efforts in China. They successfully installed the QAS in the hospitals of the top three medical universities in Anhui Province, as well as leading hospitals in the cities of Shanghai (one of the four direct-administered municipalities with 27 million people), Hangzhou (capital city of Zhejiang province with 57 million people), Wenzhou and Zhengzhou (capital city of Henan province with 94 million people). A total of 8 QAS machines are currently operational in China.
In addition, Yutian has appointed tier-1 distributors in major regions throughout China and is currently setting sales targets for 2021.
“China continues to have the most deaths due to cardiovascular disease with a doubling in the last 30 years (reference 1, below),” stated Dr. George Adams, Executive-Chairman of Ventripoint. “An international group of world-renown cardiologists (2) has recently recommended an increase in non-invasive screening as well as risk-factor reduction as the only viable way to deal with this healthcare crisis.”
Ventripoint continues to support Yutian with engineering and development expertise, advanced training and regulatory support to upgrade the approvals in China to 4-chamber analysis and other features already available on the VMS+ 3.0.
About Cardiovascular Disease (CVD) in China
Heart disease is the leading cause of death worldwide -- accounting for approximately one-third of deaths in 2019. China had the highest number of heart disease deaths, followed by India, Russia, the United States and Indonesia (2). China is rapidly aging due to a birth boom during the 1950s to 1970s, which was followed by a long period of imposed 1 child policy (1). Currently, >16% of the population is age 60 years or more, and this proportion is projected to increase to 35% by 2050. The combination of population growth and aging are expected to contribute at least another 3.4 million deaths from CVD over the next 2 decades, and related costs are projected to increase by USD $7.8 trillion from 2012 to 2030 (1).
China has twice the rate of hypertension and cardiac mortality as the United States due to known risk factors. This latest review paper (2) recommended “risk reduction for avoiding dangerous patterns of alcohol consumption, preventing smoking, adopting diets low in added sugar, sodium, and harmful fats, and maintaining a healthy weight beginning early in life. Effective and affordable clinical strategies remain overlooked by health systems as targets for investments, including methods for non-invasive screening.”
There are 34,000 hospitals in China and 1,000 new hospitals being built each year (www.statista.com/statistics). The rate of admissions for CVD in China is almost twice that for the United States and Europe as China has been unsuccessful in changing people’s habits and so provides critical cardiac care (1).
(1) Epidemiology of Cardiovascular Disease in China and Opportunities for Improvement: J Am Coll Cardiol. 2019, Jun, 73 (24) 3135–3147
(2) Global Burden of Cardiovascular Diseases and Risk Factors, 1990–2019: J Am Coll Cardiol. 2020, Dec, 76 (25) 2982-3021)
About Ventripoint Diagnostics Ltd.
Ventripoint has become an industry leader in the application of AI (Artificial Intelligence) to echocardiography. Ventripoint's VMS products are powered by its proprietary KBR technology, which is the result of a decade of development and provides accurate volumetric cardiac measurements equivalent to MRI. This affordable, gold-standard alternative allows cardiologists greater confidence in the management of their patients. Providing better care to patients serves as a springboard and basic standard for all of Ventripoint's products that guide our future developments. In addition, VMS+ is versatile and can be used with all ultrasound systems from any vendor supported by regulatory market approvals in the U.S., Europe and Canada.
For further information, please contact:
Mr. Jonathan Robinson
Email: JRobinson@oakhillfinancial.ca
Phone: (416) 669-1001
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release.
Forward Looking Statements
This news release contains forward-looking statements and forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable securities laws. The use of any of the words "expect", "anticipate", "continue", "estimate", "objective", "ongoing", "may", "will", "project", "should", "believe", "plans", "intends'' and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking information or statements. The forward-looking statements and information are based on certain key expectations and assumptions made by the Company. Although the Company believes that the expectations and assumptions on which such forward-looking statements and information are based are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on the forward-looking statements and information because the Company can give no assurance that they will prove to be correct.
Since forward-looking statements and information address future events and conditions, by their very nature they involve inherent risks and uncertainties. Actual results could differ materially from those currently anticipated due to a number of factors and risks. Factors which could materially affect such forward-looking information are described in the risk factors in the Company's most recent annual management's discussion and analysis that is available on the Company's profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. Readers are cautioned that the foregoing list of factors is not exhaustive. The forward-looking statements included in this news release are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement. The forward-looking statements and information contained in this news release are made as of the date hereof and the Company undertakes no obligation to update publicly or revise any forward-looking statements or information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, unless so required by applicable securities laws.
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