Profile

Established in 2009, Closed Loop Therapies (CLT) BV is a joint venture between the Erasmus Medical Centre (Rotterdam, the Netherlands), one of the most prominent medical institutes in Europe, and CLT Israel. The object of this joint venture is to develop and commercialise a therapeutic device, consisting of an arrhythmia detection and pacing module and a medicine pump, designed to provide automatic and immediate treatment of emerging atrial fibrillation (AF).

AF, the most common type of cardiac arrhythmia, is responsible for substantial morbidity, mortality, decreased quality of life and considerable health care expense. Market volume is estimated at an annual 3 to 4 billion US dollars. Existing AF treatment methods, including electrical, surgical and pharmacological options, have not really proven adequate in view of their limited efficacy and/or potential for adverse effects.

It all began with a scientific breakthrough by two of the Israeli founders of CLT Ltd., Professor Eli Ovsyshcher of Ben Gurion University (formerly Head of Pacing and Arrhythmia Services at Soroka Medical Centre) and Dr Ilya Fleidervish of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. They discovered a new, highly effective method for pharmacological conversion of AF using brief bolus injections of minute doses of rapidly hydrolysable cholinergic agonists (RHCA) into the bloodstream.

CLT BV is currently in its R&D phase, working on upscaling and characterising the effects of the medicine in large animal models. Development of the device poses no major technological problems. CLT BV has a strong patent application covering the method of treatment of AF, including the pharmaceutical as well as the device, subject to its development.

The early proof of concept has been described in:

I.A. Fleidervish, Y. Goldberg, I.E. Ovsyshcher. Bolus injection of acetylcholine terminates atrial fibrillation in rats. European Journal of Pharmacology 579 (2008) 326–329.

Management team

Ivo Timmermans, MD MBA, Chief Executive Officer,
Contributes extensive management experience from the pharmaceutical industry.

Dan Gelvan, PhD, Active Director, Business Strategy & Development,
Contributes extensive experience from the cardiac rhythm management business.

Professional Team

Luc Jordaens, MD PhD, Senior Consultant,
Professor of Cardiology, Thorax Centre, Erasmus MC.
One of the world’s leading experts in cardiac arrhythmia.

Eli Ovsyshcher, MD PhD, Senior Consultant,
Professor of Cardiology, Ben Gurion University, Israel.
An internationally leading expert in cardiac arrhythmia.

Ilya Fleidervish, MD PhD, Senior Consultant,
An accomplished expert in electrophysiology and biophysics, specialising in neurotransmitters.

Contact us

Closed Loop Therapies BV

Dr. Molewaterplein 50

3015 GE Rotterdam

The Netherlands

Ivo Timmermans, CEO

Telephone + 31 (0) 611 325510

E-mail: info@cltmedical.com