AccuVein AV300 Vein Illumination Device Now Available to Majority of the World’s Population

Long Island, NY, August 17, 2011 – AccuVein Inc., a global leader in medical imaging technology and the creator of the AV300, the world’s first hand-held, non-contact vein illumination device, announced today that the AV300 has been approved for sale in China by the State Food and Drug Administration (SFDA). Hong Kong Fortune Life Trade Limited will be the exclusive distributor of the AccuVein AV300 vein finder in China.
With the addition of China, AccuVein’s AV300 vein illumination device is now available in 88 countries representing two thirds of the world’s population. The AV300 is already being sold in India, Russia, Japan and many other countries. For the full list, please visit http://www.accuvein.com/how-to-buy/international/.

“China is a country of 1.3 billion people where emphasis on quality healthcare continues to rise,” said AccuVein CEO Ron Goldman. “We are excited about the opportunity to positively impact patient care and reduce healthcare costs on such a large scale.”

Venipuncture is the most common invasive medical procedure, with millions of procedures conducted every day around the world. Studies show that up to one third of these attempts to access a vein fail the first time, creating unnecessary patient discomfort, as well as additional costs. The AV300 has been shown to improve peripheral vascular access for IV infusion by projecting a safe pattern of light on a patient’s skin that reveals the position of underlying veins. This can be particularly helpful on patients who have Difficult Venous Access (DVA).

About AccuVein Inc.
AccuVein is a global leader in medical imaging solutions. Its breakthrough product, the AV300, allows health care professionals to see a map of peripheral veins on the skin’s surface with the goal of improving venipuncture and other vascular access procedures. The AV300 is the world’s only handheld, non-contact vein illumination solution. It is built on AccuVein’s proprietary technology as embodied in its growing patent portfolio that covers a broad range of imaging and medical diagnostic technologies. AccuVein and the AV300 have received numerous awards and widespread recognition from within the healthcare sector, including the top “gold” prize in the prestigious MDEA design competition as well as the 2011 Frost & Sullivan New Product Innovation Award. AccuVein’s industry leading and award winning AccuVein AV300 vein illumination solution is in use at more than 750 U.S. hospitals and available for sale in 88 countries. To see the AV300 in action and for a complete listing of countries selling the AV300, visit www.accuvein.com.

About Hong Kong Fortune Life Trade Limited
Hong Kong Fortune Life Trade Limited specializes in the import and export of innovative, high-end medical devices. Partnering with medical institutions, hospitals, research institutes and business units, they are committed to promoting and popularizing high-technology equipment internationally. In order to guarantee the quality of the equipment they represent, Hong Kong Fortune Life Trade Limited works with proven, well-known international top- Fortune 500 companies including General Electric Company (GE), 3M of US, Olympus, and Nikon. For more information visit www.hkfortunelife.com

Arlene Weintraub 8/16/11

Virtually everyone who’s ever had a blood test has experienced this nightmare at least once: Prick, no vein, prick, still no vein, prick … those are all the extra needle sticks that happen when a nurse or other medical professional can’t find a vein to draw blood or insert an IV. The desire to prevent those painful jabs inspired a company, AccuVein, which started up in Cold Spring Harbor, NY, in 2007 and invented a tool that literally illuminates veins, so the caregivers who need to find them can do so on the first try.

On July 28, AccuVein raised $22 million in a Series B funding round that was led by MVM Life Sciences Partners and Bessemer Venture Partners. The company had previously raised an undisclosed amount from private individuals, says AccuVein’s founder and CEO, Ron Goldman. That was enough to build the product and get it into 750 hospitals in the U.S. The new capital, says Goldman, “will be used primarily to build out the sales team and acquire distribution partners overseas.”

AccuVein is based on a simple concept: Human blood absorbs infrared light, making blood vessels easily visible. “We detect with infrared light, then paint the arm with red light,” Goldman says. That causes the veins that would otherwise be concealed by skin to show up clearly on the surface. AccuVein’s product, called the AV300, is a handheld device that can be used in hospitals, or in mobile settings such as ambulances or military battlefields.

But Goldman wasn’t the first to hit upon the idea of illuminating veins—and that caused a dispute that put AccuVein’s future in question. In 2008, Memphis-based Luminetx filed a patent-infringement lawsuit against AccuVein. Luminetx also markets an infrared vein illuminator, though its device is a larger, standing unit. The two companies settled in 2009. Goldman, who has a background in engineering and intellectual-property law, won’t reveal the details of the settlement, except to say that AccuVein has an “irrevocable license” to market the AV300.

With hospital budgets tight and the healthcare system facing increasing pressure to cut costs under health reform, that marketing task is only getting more challenging for AccuVein. The company’s biggest competitor isn’t another device, Goldman says, but rather the status quo—all that pricking to find the wayward vein. So AccuVein has collected return-on-investment figures from its existing clients and used them to develop a calculator that any facility can use to determine whether it’s worth it to them to buy the device.

Goldman argues that the status quo is the more expensive option. “When you miss a vein, bad things happen,” he says. “The costs escalate.” That’s because specialists sometimes have to be brought in to insert catheters into patients whose veins are hard to find. “The cost can be $500 to $1,200 per patient,” Goldman says. The AV300 has a pricetag of $4,500. So even if a catheter procedure only costs $300 and the AV300 prevents just one such procedure per week, the device will pay for itself in about four months, AccuVein contends in a case study on its website.

Goldman adds that there may be intangible benefits, as well. “If you bruise a patient trying to find a vein, the patient ends up dissatisfied,” he says. “Patient satisfaction is becoming an important measure in healthcare.”

In addition to selling to U.S. hospitals, AccuVein is now marketing its device in 80 countries. But Goldman says the overall market is still largely untapped. “The need for vascular illumination is everywhere,” he says. “It’s important to be able to get that needle in, whether you’re on the battlefield or in an ambulance or working in home healthcare.”

Having MVM and Bessemer on board as funding sources will be critical, Goldman says, because both companies have experience managing startups through periods of rapid growth. MVM has invested in a number of medical-device companies, including Vascular Pathways and Solx. Bessemer has also been a player in the space, and in 1999 it sold two of its medical device companies—Endonetics and TransVascular—to Medtronic. “Their focus and expertise in healthcare is critical to us,” Goldman says.

AccuVein will invest some of the new money in developing other applications for its technology, Goldman says. The company has built a strong patent portfolio, which is focused not just on making veins easier to see, but on other medical uses that are too early to reveal, he says. “A lot of it is around illumination,” he says. “We’re making the invisible visible.”

Arlene Weintraub is the editor of Xconomy New York. She can be reached at aweintraub@xconomy.com and followed on Twitter @awjourn.

In connection with the July 28th financing announcement, AccuVein CEO, Ron Goldman, was interviewed by reporters from the Wall Street Journal’s Digital Network.

Funding to Support Expanded Growth of Vein Illumination Leader

Bednarski and Gabrieli to Join Board of Directors

Long Island, NY — July 28, 2011 — AccuVein Inc., a global leader in medical imaging technology and the creator of the AV300, the world’s first hand-held, non-contact vein illumination device, announced today that it has secured $22.5 million in a Series B financing. The company is expected to use the growth capital to continue its expansion into untapped markets and to enhance its focus on global customers.

MVM Life Science Partners and Bessemer Venture Partners led the financing round. Current investors also participated. In connection with the financing, Eric Bednarski of MVM Life Science Partners and Christopher Gabrieli of Bessemer Venture Partners have joined the AccuVein board. Aquilo Partners, L.P., a life science investment bank, acted as the exclusive placement agent for the financing.

“We are impressed by AccuVein’s proprietary technology and commercial execution and are excited to work with the company to improve patient care by making vein illumination broadly available to patients and clinicians,” said Dr. Bednarski, partner at MVM.

Christopher Gabrieli, partner at Bessemer, added, “AccuVein has developed a unique, innovative product with potential in multiple markets. We look forward to working with Ron and the team as they continue to expand their global footprint.”

“We are very fortunate to be partnering with proven investors that fully support our efforts to continue to make vein illumination part of the industry standard of care,” said Ron Goldman, AccuVein CEO, “They clearly recognize the vast potential and future medical imaging applications of our technology and intellectual property.”

AccuVein’s industry-leading and award-winning AccuVein AV300 vein illumination solution is in use at more than 750 U.S. hospitals and available for sale in 63 countries. The AV300 has been shown to improve peripheral vascular access for IV infusion by projecting a safe pattern of light on patient’s skin that reveals the position of underlying veins.

Venipuncture is the most common invasive medical procedure worldwide with an estimated 2.7 million procedures conducted every day in the United States alone. Studies show that up to one third of these attempts to access a vein fail the first time, creating unnecessary patient discomfort as well as additional costs.

The AccuVein AV300 has received high praise from doctors, nurses, hospital administrators, patients and families for saving time and money and for improving patient care. The technology has also received numerous awards and widespread recognition from within the health care sector, including the top “gold” prize in the prestigious MDEA design competition as well as the 2011 Frost & Sullivan New Product Innovation Award.

About AccuVein Inc.
AccuVein Inc. is a global leader in medical imaging solutions. Its breakthrough product, the AV300, allows health care professionals to see a map of peripheral veins on the skin’s surface with the goal of improving vascular access procedures including blood draw, IV infusion and blood donation.

The AV300 is the world’s only handheld, non-contact vein illumination solution. It is built on AccuVein’s proprietary technology as embodied in its growing patent portfolio that covers a broad range of imaging and medical diagnostic technologies.

It is in use at more than 750 U.S. hospitals and available for sale in 63 countries worldwide. To see a demonstration of vein illumination with the AV300, please visit www.accuvein.com.

About MVM Life Science Partners
MVM Life Science Partners LLP invests in select opportunities in healthcare. MVM was founded in 1997 and has a complimentary team with broad experience in London and Boston. Learn more at www.mvmlifescience.com.

About Bessemer Venture Partners
Bessemer Venture Partners is a global venture capital firm with offices in Silicon Valley, Cambridge, Mass., New York, Mumbai and Herzliya, Israel. One of the oldest venture capital practices in the United States, BVP has partnered as an active, hands-on investor in Ciena, LinkedIn, Celtel, Blue Nile, Skype, Staples, VeriSign and Yelp. More than 100 BVP-funded companies have gone public on exchanges in Canada, India, the U.K. and the United States.
BVP’s healthcare team has a diversity of industry experience, backing developers of innovative therapeutics, providers of healthcare services and suppliers of healthcare information technology. The team has worked successfully with entrepreneurs at Vistacare, Allscripts, IPC The Hospitalist Company, Travcorps and NetSmart. Learn more at www.bvp.com and www.bvp.com/india.

Note: As of September 2011, the AV300 is now in over 1000 Hospitals!

Cold Spring Harbor, NY — April 13, 2011 — AccuVein announced today that the United States Patent and Trademark Office has granted the company a patent for its vascular illumination technology and that a second patent has been allowed.

“With more than a dozen additional patents pending in the United States and around the world we’re very pleased with this news.” said Ron Goldman, President and CEO of AccuVein. “Our technology team has built a stellar portfolio of intellectual property that enables us to deliver the only hand-held vein illumination system in the market.”

Called “miles ahead” by Frost & Sullivan, the AccuVein AV300 is now in use in over 575 hospitals in the United States alone. This makes it the most widely deployed vein illumination system in the world. It helps healthcare professionals locate veins for blood draw, IV infusion and blood donation by projecting a pattern of light on patient’s skin that reveals the position of underlying veins. This 10-ounce, hand-held device is available with a range of hands-free options so that it can quickly free the practitioner’s hands to perform the venipuncture.

“We’re extremely gratified that the USPTO has recognized the significant intellectual property position that we have developed for vein illumination.” said Joe Zott, Vice President of Operations and Engineering for AccuVein. “We continue to build value for our customers through innovation. Industry recognition such as our gold-level Medical Design Excellence Award and Frost & Sullivan’s Product of the Year award attest to this.”

About AccuVein

AccuVein is a global leader in medical imaging solutions. Its breakthrough product, the AV300, allows health care professionals to see a map of peripheral veins on the skin’s surface with the goal of improving venipuncture and other vascular access procedures. The AV300 is the world’s only handheld, non-contact vein illumination solution. It is built on AccuVein’s proprietary technology as embodied in its growing patent portfolio that covers a broad range of imaging and medical diagnostic technologies. It is in use at more than 1000 hospitals and available for sale in 88 countries. For more information please visit www.accuvein.com

“I do a lot of medical technology stories, but this may just be one of the coolest gee whiz gadgets I have come across in a long time.” Coming from Dr. Max Gomez, WCBS Chief Medical Correspondent, that is saying a lot.
Dr. Gomez goes on to explain that the AccuVein AV300, “lights up your veins so that needle sticks for IVs, blood tests and so on, become a one-shot deal.”

See what else Max, the CBS news team and the medical clinicians at North Shore LIJ Plainview Hospital in New York have to say about the AccuVein AV300 and the benefits of vein illumination…

West Virginia Gazette

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Holding a small portable device over his arm, the veins under Nasser Larijani’s skin became visible to the naked eye.

The AccuVein AV 300, which uses infrared technology to reveal the veins and blood flow beneath the skin, is one of the newest additions to Charleston Area Medical Center facilities, said Larijani, lab manager at CAMC Women and Children’s Hospital.

The battery-powered device weighs about 10 ounces, and lab technicians or nursing staff simply hold the device over a patient’s hand or arm to locate a vein for an IV or to draw blood, Larijani said.

“It’s minimally invasive and very easy to use,” said Dr. Kathleen Mimnagh, CAMC clinical director for medicine and family practices.

It reduces unnecessary pain for patients who may have to endure multiple sticks, and boosts staff confidence in their ability to locate a vein on the first try, Mimnagh said.

“We love it, and the patients love it,” Mimnagh said.

CAMC purchased 25 of the AccuVein AV300s last summer.

“I’m a mom and I have kids, and I had to suffer in another hospital when my son needed to have some blood work done,” Mimnagh said. “They stuck him so many times, I finally said, ‘No, you can’t stick him anymore.’”

Experiences like these make people afraid of needles and wary of going to the doctor’s office, Mimnagh said.

Anything a hospital can do to lessen the trauma and unnecessary pain, especially in young children, is worth the extra expense and effort, she said.

Several medical facilities across West Virginia have purchased the AV300 devices, including Cabell Huntington Hospital, Raleigh Regional Cancer Center and the Martinsburg VA Hospital.

By Veronica Nett

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. — March 2, 2011 — Based on its recent analysis of the vein illumination devices market, Frost & Sullivan recognizes AccuVein with the 2011 North America Frost & Sullivan Award New Product Innovation for the AccuVein AV300. AccuVein’s innovative AV300 was developed to plug the gaps of the currently available products. Its convenient form factor, ease of use and price are a definite improvement over the previous products, which are cumbersome, expensive and time consuming to set up.

The AV300 is portable in the small hand-held configuration and runs on a rechargeable battery, which provides more than two hours of continuous use – usually sufficient for as many as 360 IV insertions or blood draws. Without requiring an electrical outlet, it enables the user to move it from one limb to the other without hassle.

“The company conducted extensive human factor studies and maintained a constant focus on size, weight, visual appearance and user interface,” says Frost & Sullivan Industry Analyst Saju John Mathew. “Frost & Sullivan notes that the device reduces the number of attempts in gaining vascular access, resulting in improved patient satisfaction, as well as time and cost savings. As it has no contact with the skin, it decreases cross contamination.”

AccuVein’s unique implementation remains in focus over a range of distance through the use of laser-based projection. This ensures that the image displays clearly despite any hand jitter by the nurse or movement by the patient; as in the case of a neonate or when a patient is transported in an ambulance. The accompanying software is robust, with turn-on and visualization capability in less than two seconds, while existing devices in the market require a daily calibration of nearly five minutes to perform and at least one minute to boot.

The product supplements existing venipuncture techniques and its portability ensures that it can be used across a wide range of applications including ambulances, pediatric and remote medical care. The AV300 weighs only 10 oz, while the present platforms of devices weigh at least 50 lbs.

The AV300 vein viewing system can be used as a handheld device or in conjunction with several hands-free accessories, including a wheeled stand and a flexible arm with a clamp that can secure the device to a phlebotomy station. The company’s R&D team continues to explore other configurations such as head mounts and mounting on a tourniquet.

While other competitors charge nearly $20,000, the AV300 costs less than $5000. At this price, customers can often obtain a return on investment of only a few months.

“The remarkable price advantage brings it within easy reach for hospitals, physicians’ offices, the home healthcare market and emergency medical technicians,” notes Saju. “A recent survey conducted on 348 patients showed that participants were willing to travel 13 to 14 miles further to visit a healthcare center/hospital that uses the AccuVein AV300.”

The AV300 shows a definite presence in the world market and a significant stake in the $2 billion U.S. market. It is used in one out of every 12 hospitals/healthcare centers in the United States.

Each year, Frost & Sullivan presents this award to the company that has demonstrated innovation in developing a product. The recipient has leveraged leading edge technologies to offer value added features with an impressive ROI for customers. In turn, the innovation has enabled the company to acquire new customers and increase their market penetration.

Frost & Sullivan Best Practices Awards recognize companies in a variety of regional and global markets for demonstrating outstanding achievement and superior performance in areas such as leadership, technological innovation, customer service, and strategic product development. Industry analysts compare market participants and measure performance through in-depth interviews, analysis and extensive secondary research in order to identify best practices in the industry.

About AccuVein

AccuVein is a global leader in medical imaging solutions. Its breakthrough product, the AV300, allows health care professionals to see a map of peripheral veins on the skin’s surface with the goal of improving venipuncture and other vascular access procedures. The AV300 is the world’s only handheld, non-contact vein illumination solution. It is built on AccuVein’s proprietary technology as embodied in its growing patent portfolio that covers a broad range of imaging and medical diagnostic technologies. It is in use at more than 1000 hospitals and available for sale in 88 countries. For more information please visit www.accuvein.com

About Frost & Sullivan

Frost & Sullivan, the Growth Partnership Company, enables clients to accelerate growth and achieve best-in-class positions in growth, innovation and leadership. The company’s Growth Partnership Service provides the CEO and the CEO’s Growth Team with disciplined research and best-practice models to drive the generation, evaluation, and implementation of powerful growth strategies. Frost & Sullivan leverages 50 years of experience in partnering with Global 1000 companies, emerging businesses and the investment community from more than 40 offices on six continents. To join our Growth Partnership, please visit http://www.awards.frost.com.

December 2010

Top 10 of 2010

“Launched in May 2009, the AccuVein AV300 is the world’s first handheld, non-contact vein illumination device that helps healthcare professionals to locate hard-to-find veins. Although vein illumination has been around for some time, early devices were essentially bright flashlights. While later technologies used infrared imaging to project the vein pattern onto the skin, they were too large and expensive for extensive deployment.

The AV300, however, was developed with the weaknesses of previous devices in mind, meaning the company had to rethink the basic approach to vein location, which involved extensive human factor studies and a focus on the visual appearance and user interface.

Venipuncture is the most common invasive medical procedure – with 2.7 million performed every day in the U.S. alone – so there is little doubt that the AV300 has a bright future. Already deployed in more than 300 hospitals in the U.S. and available in more than 50 countries around the world, the company believes it has only scratched the surface of the technology’s potential. Early adopters have already written vein illumination into their standard of care, and Accuvein is working with its users to help them do the same.”