OVERVIEW

Novian Health is a privately held medical device company based in Chicago with a subsidiary in Evry, France.  It has developed the Novilase^® Laser System, image-guided treatment that enables physicians to ablate tumors.  Novilase Breast Therapy uses parametrically controlled heating to ablate breast tumors with improved outcomes and lower costs versus surgery.

Novian was founded by Dr. Kambiz Dowlat, a former professor of surgery at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago and a leading specialist in breast cancer diagnosis and treatment. Early on he recognized that imaging would be able to detect earlier stage tumors and that a minimally invasive alternative to surgery would be beneficial for patients.

Novian Health received U.S. FDA 510(k) clearance for the treatment of benign breast tumors (i.e., fibroadenomas) and ablation of soft tissue.

 

Recently, a clinical trial evaluating Novilase Breast Therapy for the focal destruction of malignant breast tumors completed enrollment in the U.S. and UK, and a parallel trial remains ongoing in France.  A CE Mark is being sought based on these results.

FDA approval for the treatment of malignant breast tumors will be pursued following completion of a confirmatory clinical trial. Other tumor sites and indications are also being explored.

Novilase is a procedure that can be performed in an outpatient setting with only local anesthesia, offering potentially significant advantages over surgery including minimal scarring, quicker recovery times, and less pain or fatigue.  Novilase may be performed by physicians (e.g., surgeons and radiologists) with experience in image-guided procedures (e.g., breast biopsies).

MANAGEMENT

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Anthony TOMASELLO — Chairman & Director

Mr. Tomasello is managing director of iNetworks, LLC. Previously, he had retired as Executive Vice President and Chief Technical Officer of Stericycle, Inc., a publicly traded company on the NASDAQ exchange (SRCL). Stericycle specializes exclusively in regulated services to the healthcare community. Mr. Tomasello joined Stericycle in its infancy as a venture capital start-up funded with $200,000 of seed capital. He subsequently led the effort of developing and commercializing its intellectual property and operations, both domestically and internationally. During the time that he spent as a member of the executive officer team, he was instrumental in Stericycle’s growth to its current position as the world’s leader in its field with $2 billion in sales and a current enterprise value of more than $10 Billion and more than 10,000 full time employees. Immediately prior to his association with Stericycle, Mr. Tomasello founded, grew, and then subsequently sold a specialist consulting engineering firm. He is the holder of multiple domestic and international patents. Mr. Tomasello is a graduate of the University of Pittsburgh in Mechanical Engineering.

Additionally, he has both public and private board experience. Mr. Tomasello was recently a member of the Board of Directors of a joint venture company with the University of Utah to commercialize technologies issuing from the University staff. He also sits on the Merrill Lynch/Bank of America Advisory Board.

Henry “Chip” APPELBAUM — President, CEO & Director

Mr. Appelbaum has more than 25 years of life sciences & biotech experience, including business development, marketing, sales, and management. He was appointed President & CEO of Novian Health in 2005 and has led the development of an image-guided, laser ablation therapy for treating tumors. He has successfully raised over $20 million and led the development of Novian’s manufacturing operations.

Previously, Chip spent five years as Vice President of Corporate Development at Source Precision Medicine, a molecular diagnostics startup he helped found and nine years at Amgen where he managed the business development department and then led the Infergen® launch team. Prior to Amgen, he served in a technology transfer role at Argonne National Laboratory and conducted contract research at Battelle. He holds an MBA from the University of Chicago and an S.M. in Chemical Engineering from MIT.

Kambiz DOWLATSHAHI, M.D. — Founder & Director

Dr. Dowlat is a former professor of surgery at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago, and the founder of Novian Health. Dr. Dowlat has been a practicing surgeon, specializing in breast cancer, at Rush since 1987. Prior to Rush, he was on the University of Chicago faculty of surgery. Dr. Dowlat received his MD from the University of London, and has spent more than 25 years in breast cancer research and treatment. He is named on eight US issued patents related to this technology.

Dr. Dowlat is a pioneer of micro-invasive breast cancer procedures. In 1985, he introduced stereotactic needle breast biopsy to the United States for the diagnosis of breast lesions (now in use in over 2,000 breast centers in the United States). As a renowned breast specialist he has trained over a thousand surgeons in courses sponsored by the American College of Surgeons in image-guided diagnosis of breast cancer.

From 1998-2002, Dr. Dowlat served on the National Mammography Quality Assurance Advisory Committee of the Center for Devices and Radiological Health of the FDA. He previously sat on the Board of Directors for the American Society of Breast Surgeons.

Anthony LACENERE — Director

Anthony Lacenere, co-founder of iNetworks, LLC, provides leadership focused on cash-on-cash returns, based on an extensive experience portfolio in venture capital and private equity investing, medical device and other biomedical technology, and company operations. Prior to iNetworks, Mr. Lacenere was President of MDX Oncology, Inc., affiliated with Universal Health Services (UHS) of King of Prussia, PA, advising UHS with respect to its oncology-related investments and operations, including imaging, diagnostics and therapeutic projects. Prior to MDX, Mr. Lacenere was a principal on a management team in a leveraged buyout of American Sterilizer Company, a $300 million New York Stock Exchange listed company. As a principal of the buyout group, and the group’s dealmaker, he completed numerous transactions in the US, Europe and Asia.

A dual citizen of the United States and Italy, Mr. Lacenere is a member of the International Parents Council of McGill University, Montreal, Quebec. Mr. Lacenere holds an M.S. in Business Economics from Ohio State University (Graduate Research Fellow with Distinction) and a B.S. in Economics and Finance from the University of Dayton.

John REGAN — Director

John Regan is Managing Director at Energy Foundry, a Chicago based venture capital firm. He has more than 25 years of experience in the industry and has played key roles in early stage venture capital.

Prior to joining Energy Foundry, John was a Managing Director at Illinois Ventures, and is a founding member of the Illinois Emerging Technology Funds. His portfolio investments won numerous awards including MIT top 10 Technologies, EPA Product of the year and WSJ Annual Technology Innovation Award. While there, he helped grow the firm from start-up to $70 million under management.

Earlier in his career, John was Managing Director of Keystone Venture Capital and was the lead investor in several transactions as well as an active board member. Several of John’s investments were acquired or went public including CDNow.com, VST Technologies, Imaging Automation, Arnold Palmer Golf and EnvestNet.

John was an early member of Apex Venture Partners and made numerous investments including a manufacturer and specialty retailer, which grew over $200 million in revenue and a successful IPO. He started his career at General Dynamics where he received an Educational Fellowship, Emerald Recognition Award and held a top secret clearance.

John received a MBA from the University of Chicago. He also holds a MS and BS in General Engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Frank J.M. ten BRINK — Director

Frank J.M. ten Brink has served as a Director of the Company since July 2006. Mr. ten Brink is currently the Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Chief Administrative Officer of Stericycle Inc., an integrated Medical Waste Services Company. He has over 16 years of finance experience in high growth environments, mergers and acquisitions. Prior to joining Stericycle, he was Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer with Telular Corporation. Between 1991 and 1995, he was Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Hexacomb Corporation. Mr. ten Brink studied International Business at the Netherlands School of Business and received an M.B.A. degree in Finance from the University of Oregon.

INVESTORS

iNetworks

Founded in 1999, iNetworks companies and entrepreneurs accelerate their solutions by providing capital and intellectual resources to solve critical problems. iNetworks focuses primarily on healthcare and life sciences businesses that develop breakthrough technologies to improve clinical outcomes for patients and save time, money, and resources for healthcare providers. Learn more at www.inetworkspe.com.

Illinois Investment Venture Fund (IIVF)

The Illinois Investment Venture Fund (IIVF) is a venture capital program seeking to support young, innovative companies, and start-ups that show a high potential for future growth resulting in the creation of high-paying professional Illinois jobs. Learn more at http://www.illinois.gov.