A New Identity: Interventional Rhythm Changes Name To InnerPulse

RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C. — Interventional Rhythm, a venture-backed startup based in RTP, has a new name and soon will move into a new headquarters.

The new name is InnerPulse.

The privately held company announced the name change on Monday. The firm also said it would move into new headquarters covering 19,000 square feet in mid-July. The offices will be located at 4025 Stirrup Creek Drive in RTP. The company currently has some 30 employees and occupies 9,500 square feet of space, according to Benny Ward, its chief financial officer.

InnerPulse closed on $20 million in venture capital in May of last year. Among its investors are Johnson & Johnson Development and Boston Scientific.

The company said it needed additional space for research and development as it prepares for the launch of an implantable defibrillator that is designed to sudden cardiac arrest and treat abnormal heart rhythms.

The device, called the Percutaneous Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillator ("PICD"), can be implanted without requiring surgery, according to the company. It is contained within a catheter and can be inserted intravenously through a vein in the leg.

"We believe our life-saving PICD device is a revolutionary technology that will redefine how we treat patients at risk of Sudden Cardiac Death and save thousands of lives of patients with heart rhythm disorders each year," said Daniel Pelak, the company's president and chief executive officer.

Pelak joined InnerPulse as CEO last September after Johnson & Johnson acquired Closure Medical where he had been CEO. "We are still in the development stages for the product," Ward said, noting that the company hopes to launch studies for regulatory clearances in 2007.

The company does have plans for additional products, Ward added. "We do see this as a platform technology for additional products," he explained.

The technology for the PICD was developed internally, according to Ward.

InnerPulse has raised more than $35 million in venture capital. Among the investors are Delphi Ventures, Frazier Healthcare Ventures, Johnson & Johnson Development Corporation and Boston Scientific Corporation.

The company has no plans to seek additional financing at this time, Ward said. "There will be additional fundraising at some point as we get to commercialization," he added.