Bivacor Inc. has hired a new CEO, the latest in a string of accomplishments for the clinical-stage medical technology company.
Jim Dillon was named the new CEO and member of the company's board of directors, Bivacor said Jan. 3. Previously, Thomas Vassiliades was named CEO of the company in January 2022 and was listed in that role on Bivacor's website until at least May 2023.
Dillion most recently served as CEO of BioVentrix, a clinical-stage private medical device company based in Massachusetts, since April 2021. Prior to that, he held senior executive sales and marketing positions with Abiomed, TherOx and InfraReDx.
During his career, Dillon's "focus in heart failure has included developing cardiovascular therapies to enable native heart recovery, reducing the size of a patient’s myocardial infarction, repairing adult and congenital cardiac defects, and volume management for acutely decompensated congestive heart failure patients," a press release states.
Bivacor is developing a product called the Total Artificial Heart, which is "designed to be the first long-term therapy for patients with severe biventricular heart failure," per the company.
“Jim’s leadership style, combined with his experience in building high-performance teams as well as expertise in the heart-failure field, makes him the ideal person to lead BiVACOR,” Raymond W. Cohen, chairman of the board of Bivacor, said in a statement. “We are thrilled to have him join as CEO.”
Dillon's hiring comes on the heels of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approving an investigational device exemption for the company in November 2023. The exemption allows Bivacor to conduct a first-in-human clinical feasibility study of the Total Artificial Heart.
The study is slated to begin in 2024. It has 10 hospital location options — including the Texas Heart Institute in Houston — and will initially enroll three patients.
In March 2023, Bivacor received $18 million in funding led by Boston-based Cormorant Asset Management and Australian venture capital firm OneVentures, through the OneVentures Healthcare Fund III. The company said it would use the funding for research and development, human trials and hiring of key executives.
In May 2021, the company also raised $19 million in Series B funding from Cormorant and OneVentures. At the same time, Bivacor also received $3 million in Small Business Innovation Research grant funding from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute at the U.S. National Institute of Health.
“It’s a privilege to lead the BiVACOR team at a pivotal time in the company’s history,” Dillon said in the Jan. 3 statement. “A Total Artificial Heart (TAH) is unique in its complexity and importance as an advanced treatment option for end-stage biventricular heart failure patients. The BiVACOR TAH device has the potential to truly revolutionize the field.”
Bivacor's world headquarters is in Houston, according to its website, which also lists the company's corporate office and engineering office in Huntington Beach, California, and its international office in Australia. The company was founded in 2008 by Daniel Timms, chief technical officer, who graduated from Queensland University of Technology in Australia. Dr. William Cohn, a renowned Houston heart surgeon and serial health care entrepreneur, is the company's chief medical officer.
