ConKay Medical Systems is an early-stage medical device company advancing solutions to treat valvular regurgitation in patients with progressive heart failure. In September, the company announced that it has added top interventional cardiologist Dr. Paul Sorajja to its scientific Advisory Board. The company noted that it had also moved its headquarters to a larger facility in Pleasanton to support its continued growth.

The company is developing a unique device for treating the more than 100 million patients who suffer from valvular regurgitation. This life-threatening condition occurs when one of a person’s four heart valves fails to close tightly and allows blood to flow backward. Symptoms of valvular regurgitation include shortness of breath, fatigue, chest pain, and fluttering heartbeat.

Traditional treatments have severe limitations or require patients to remain on undesirable medications, including blood thinners and diuretics. ConKay has developed a one-size-fits-all annular repair catheter system focused on functional tricuspid regurgitation (TR), which affects the heart’s tricuspid valve. This approach replicates effective surgical treatments without the risks of open-heart surgery, according to company officials. Surgical tricuspid annuloplasty procedures have been the preferred treatment for functional TR in patients, but they require open-heart surgery and are associated with in-hospital mortality risks and extended hospital stays, they say.

“Our patients with tricuspid regurgitation need a transcatheter solution that matches the long-established surgical predicate of tricuspid annuloplasty, and ConKay’s unique technology has the potential to do just that,” according to Dr. Sorajja, who serves as Director of the Center for Valve and Structural Heart Disease at the Allina Health Minneapolis Heart Institute. “ConKay’s technology will greatly expand the population of patients who can be treated for tricuspid regurgitation.”

In 2015, Dr. Sorajja served as part of the team that performed the first transcatheter mitral valve replacement in the United States. He is widely recognized as having the most experience worldwide with the procedure. Dr. Sorajja has also served as the national principal investigator for multiple tricuspid devices.

“Dr. Sorajja’s vast experience and commitment to using new technologies to improve patient care reinforces the strong promise of ConKay’s innovations,” notes ConKay Medical Systems Founder and CEO Albert Yuan. “His insights will be essential as we continue to work to offer solutions for patients suffering from tricuspid regurgitation who currently have no medical options.”

ConKay’s prestigious Advisory Board also includes Dr. Saibal Kar of Los Robles Regional Medical Center in California, Dr. Jamie McCabe of the University of Washington in Washington, Dr. Amit Vora of Yale University School of Medicine in Massachusetts, and Dr. Hemal Gada of UPMC in Pennsylvania.

The move into a larger headquarters follows the close of an oversubscribed seed funding round in March, when ConKay became a Hacienda tenant. “Our new office space includes a first-rate R and D lab, positioning us perfectly for first-in-human studies,” Yuan says. “This is a significant milestone for us as we work to help heart patients.”

For more information about ConKay Medical Systems, please visit www.conkaymedical.com or www.linkedin.com/company/conkay-medical-systems-inc.