Cardiovascular Systems, Inc. (CSI) (NASDAQ: CSII), a medical device company developing and commercializing innovative interventional treatment systems for patients with peripheral and coronary artery disease, announced today that the first patient has been successfully treated with its ViperCross peripheral support catheter.

Dr. Billy J. Kim, MD, The Surgical Clinic, Nashville, Tenn., treated the first patient with ViperCross.

Said Dr. Kim, “ViperCross offers the right balance of support and flexibility to successfully navigate tortuous anatomy and cross challenging lesions. In addition, ViperCross provides excellent guidewire support and facilitates easy guidewire exchange.”

Peripheral support catheters are used during peripheral vascular intervention (PVI) procedures for guidewire support to enable lesion crossing, as well as for guidewire exchanges. Physicians use support catheters in approximately 50% of PVIs, primarily in below-the-knee and complex interventions. When calcium is present, lesions can be challenging to cross with an interventional guidewire and often require advanced tools prior to vessel preparation and treatment.

Scott R. Ward, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of CSI, said, “With the commercial launch of ViperCross, CSI now offers a complete portfolio of products for the treatment of peripheral artery disease, including atherectomy, balloon catheters, guidewires, support catheters and embolic protection. Combined, these products advance our ability to help physicians improve outcomes for patients undergoing complex peripheral interventions.”

About Cardiovascular Systems, Inc.

Cardiovascular Systems, Inc., based in St. Paul, Minn., is a medical device company focused on developing and commercializing innovative solutions for treating vascular and coronary disease. The company’s orbital atherectomy system treats calcified and fibrotic plaque in arterial vessels throughout the leg and heart and addresses many of the limitations associated with existing surgical, catheter and pharmacological treatment alternatives. For additional information, please visit www.csi360.com and connect on Twitter @csi360.

About Peripheral Artery Disease (PAD)

As many as 18 million Americans, most over age 65, suffer from PAD, which is caused by the accumulation of plaque in peripheral arteries reducing blood flow. Symptoms include leg pain when walking or at rest. Left untreated, PAD can lead to severe pain, immobility, non-healing wounds and eventually limb amputation. With risk factors such as diabetes and obesity on the rise, the prevalence of PAD is growing at double-digit rates.

Millions of patients with PAD may benefit from treatment with orbital atherectomy utilizing the Stealth 360^® and Diamondback 360^® Peripheral Orbital Atherectomy Systems, minimally invasive catheter systems developed and manufactured by CSI. These systems use a diamond-coated crown, attached to an orbiting shaft, which sands away plaque while preserving healthy vessel tissue — a critical factor in preventing reoccurrences. Balloon angioplasty and stents have significant shortcomings in treating hard, calcified lesions. Stents are prone to fractures and high recurrence rates, and treatment of hard, calcified lesions often leads to vessel damage and suboptimal results.

Safe Harbor

Certain statements in this news release are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and are provided under the protection of the safe harbor for forward-looking statements provided by that Act. For example, statements in this press release regarding the commercial introduction of ViperCross and the impact of this new product are forward-looking statements. These statements involve risks and uncertainties that could cause results to differ materially from those projected, including, but not limited to, the experience of physicians regarding the effectiveness and reliability of products sold by CSI; the reluctance of physicians, hospitals and other organizations to accept new products; the impact of competitive products and pricing; general economic conditions; and other factors detailed from time to time in CSI’s SEC reports, including its most recent annual report on Form 10-K and subsequent quarterly reports on Form 10-Q. CSI encourages you to consider all of these risks, uncertainties and other factors carefully in evaluating the forward-looking statements contained in this release. As a result of these matters, changes in facts, assumptions not being realized or other circumstances, CSI's actual results may differ materially from the expected results discussed in the forward-looking statements contained in this release. The forward-looking statements made in this release are made only as of the date of this release, and CSI undertakes no obligation to update them to reflect subsequent events or circumstances.

CSI^®, Diamondback 360^®, Stealth 360^® and ViperCross™ are trademarks of Cardiovascular Systems, Inc.

Product Disclosure:

Indications: The 018/035 ViperCross support catheters are intended to be used in conjunction with steerable guidewires to access discrete regions of the peripheral vasculature. The 014 ViperCross support catheters are intended to be used to access discrete regions of the peripheral and/or coronary vasculature. ViperCross catheters may be used to facilitate placement and exchange of guidewires and other interventional devices and to sub-selectively infuse/deliver diagnostic and therapeutic agents.

See the instructions for use for detailed information regarding the procedure, indications, contraindications, warnings, precautions, and potential adverse events. For further information call CSI at 1-877-274-0901 and/or consult CSI’s website at www.csi360.com.

Caution: Federal law (USA) restricts these devices to sale by or on the order of a physician.

The ViperCross received FDA 510(k) clearance.

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