Press Releases
10 Feb 2022
MEDIA RELEASE
VenstraMedical adds investment and commercial expertise to Board with appointment of independent director Victor Windeyer
Australian cardiovascular medical device company VenstraMedical has appointed Victor Windeyer to the company’s board of directors.
Mr Windeyer brings extensive experience in the medtech sector, with a focus on the development and commercialization of numerous medical devices that are used across the globe.
Mr Windeyer is currently portfolio manager for Australian Unity’s Future of Healthcare Fund and prior to this held an advisory role at QIC Private Capital, where he originated and developed QIC Global Infrastructure’s first major investment in the healthcare sector.
Mr Windeyer’s appointment follows Venstra’s recent successful capital raising round to support development of the company’s small catheter-inserted collapsible heart pump.
Founder and CEO of VenstraMedical, Martin Cook PhD said “Victor’s appointment signals the next, critical phase of Ventra’s development which is about developing and commercializing percutaneous circulatory support systems for temporary use by cardiologists in the treatment of patients requiring cardiac support without surgical intervention.”
Commenting on his appointment Mr Windeyer said that it was privilege to join founders Martin Cook and Dr Suku Thambar at VenstraMedical at this critical juncture of the company’s development.
“VenstraMedical’s percutaneous ventricular assist device (pVAD) is designed to save lives, decrease cardiovascular morbidity and heart disease interventions, I look forward to helping the company deliver the device to the clinic and achieve this potential ”, he said.
Cardiovascular disease causes one in four deaths in Australia, with many of these deaths triggered by heart attacks. VenstraMedical’s pump, or pVAD device, will provide temporary cardiac support for patients suffering cardiogenic shock brought on by a heart attack.
A pVAD is a small blood pump placed at a catheter tip, implanted by a cardiologist into the patient’s heart, to provide temporary cardiac support. VenstraMedical’s device, called the ‘SAVA’ system, is delivered into the heart without surgery and is designed to provide rapid, life-sustaining support for patients.
VenstraMedical’s development has been supported with Medical Research Future Fund funding from the BioMedTech Horizons program, delivered by MTPConnect, the Australian Government’s industry growth centre.
ENDS
BIOS
Victor Windeyer – Portfolio Manager Australian Unity Future of Healthcare Fund
Victor Windeyer joined Australian Unity in May 2020 to lead the Australian Unity Future of Healthcare Fund. He joined from an advisory role at QIC Private Capital where he originated and developed QIC Global Infrastructure’s first major investment in the healthcare sector. Before that, he spent eight years at Citigroup where he led the Australian healthcare equities research team. Victor’s other experience includes general manager and chief operating officer at listed medical device company Sunshine Heart, as well as holding senior roles at Ventracor, Vision Systems and Cochlear.
Martin Cook – Founder and CEO VenstraMedical
Martin Cook is a senior medical device industry executive with extensive experience in the development of mechanical circulatory support devices including LVADs, intravascular pumps, counterpulsation devices and total artificial hearts, as well as percutaneous valves.
He has more than 20 years’ experience in the biomedical device industry, with an extensive professional network and thorough knowledge of the industry specific history, market, supplier and regulatory environment. Martin has strong technical knowledge in multiple areas such as design, clinical use, animal trials, hemodynamics, FDA and European regulatory requirements, intellectual property, biomaterials, manufacturability, and reliability.
Martin has a proven track record of taking complex developments from early start-up phase to regulatory approval in minimum time and in multiple jurisdictions (FDA IDE and CE mark).
Dr Suku Thambar – Founder and Medical Director VenstraMedical
Dr Suku Thambar undertook his specialist training in cardiology at St Vincent’s Hospital, Sydney, NSW and Rhode Island Hospital, Providence, USA. He has since lived in the Hunter region where he practices as an interventional cardiologist in the private and public sectors. Dr Thambar is a Visiting Medical Officer at Newcastle Private Hospital. He holds a conjoint appointment as a Senior Staff Specialist at the John Hunter Hospital and Senior Lecturer of the Faculty of Medicine, University of Newcastle.
Dr Thambar is an active clinical researcher who acknowledges the significance of research in contributing to the advancement of cardiology. His major research interests are the use of adult stem cells in the management of acute and chronic cardiovascular diseases, and the emerging technology of renal artery denervation using catheter-based radio frequency ablation to manage conditions such as resistant hypertension and heart failure. He previously founded a percutaneous mitral valve company which successfully sold its patented technology to a large valve company.
About MTPConnect’s BioMedTech Horizons program
MTPConnect, Australia's Growth Centre for the medical technologies, biotechnologies and pharmaceuticals (MTP) sector, is an independent, not-for-profit organisation championing the growth of Australia’s vibrant MTP ecosystem. MTPConnect is forging stronger connections between research and industry to help maximise opportunities for Australians to not only make scientific and technological breakthroughs, but to see them developed through the proof-of-concept stage and successfully translated and commercialised.
MTPConnect’s BioMedTech Horizons program is a Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF) initiative to support innovative collaborative health technologies, drive discoveries towards proof-of-concept and commercialisation that address key health challenges as well as maximise entrepreneurship and idea potential.