(ADVANCE Medical/Marketwire) May 31, 2011 – ADVANCE Medical announced today it has raised a US$6 million Series A financing led by Venrock and Brazilian institutional investors and angels to commercialize leading innovative medical technologies in Brazil and other countries in Latin America. The Company specializes in commercializing products that require a more sophisticated sales and marketing approach targeting select physician segments. ADVANCE Medical employs experienced executives from the Pharmaceutical and Medical Device industries who have experience launching and commercializing products in Latin America. By working closely with the technology originator, ADVANCE Medical is able to gain a more thorough understanding of products and to build a customized commercial strategy and infrastructure on the ground for a launch or further commercial expansion.

Brazil has the seventh largest nominal GDP (Gross Domestic Product) worldwide and the fifth largest population with just over 200 million people. Fueled by high export demands from other emerging economies, and recent discoveries of natural resources, the economy is expanding at a rapid pace as in other BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India and China), creating higher disposable income per capita and greater demand for healthcare products and services. For multiple consecutive years, healthcare expenditure in Brazil has been growing at double-digit percent annually. On an absolute basis, Brazil’s healthcare expenditure is nearly as high as China’s and a multiple of India’s. Other economies in Latin America have also been experiencing similar growth, offering attractive markets for companies with innovative products and services.

ADVANCE Medical’s first partner is California-based ZELTIQ Aesthetics, the innovative creator of CoolSculpting®, the first medical device approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the non-invasive reduction of localized subcutaneous fat. CoolSculpting® utilizes a novel technique, developed at the Wellman Center for Photomedicine at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, a teaching affiliate of Harvard Medical School, that uses cold to selectively destroy fat cells. Since 2010, CoolSculpting® has been embraced by the global esthetic community with more than 500 systems sold and over 45,000 patients treated. Brazil is one of the largest esthetic markets in the World and CoolSculpting® was recently approved by ANVISA (Brazilian sanitary vigilance agency). ADVANCE Medical is working closely with ZELTIQ Aesthetics in launching the product in Brazil.

“Brazil and other countries in Latin America are poised to offer very attractive growth opportunities to global device, therapeutics and diagnostic companies, but they remain challenging markets to navigate. There is a clear need for a Latin America-based company that can offer commercial creativity, flawless execution, complete transparency, and full legal compliance. ADVANCE’s mission is to become the trusted partner of choice for companies with truly innovative products looking for a more sophisticated commercial partner,” stated Fred Aslan, M.D., Founder and Chief Executive Officer of ADVANCE Medical.

“We are in a unique and fortunate position to leverage the best of both worlds: access to the most promising products such as CoolSculpting® via our network of US investors and advisors, and the ability to leverage the commercial, regulatory and financial expertise of highly experienced investors, executives, and advisors in Latin America.”

About ADVANCE Medical
ADVANCE Medical is a commercial-focused company with offices in Palo Alto and Sao Paulo whose mission is to become the partner-of-choice for innovative global medical technology companies looking to commercialize their products in Brazil and other countries in Latin America. The Company specializes in commercializing products that require a more sophisticated sales and marketing approach targeting select physician segments. ADVANCE Medical employs experienced executives from the Pharmaceutical and Medical Device industries who have experience launching and commercializing products in Latin America. The Company’s first commercial product is CoolSculpting® by ZELTIQ Aesthetics, the first esthetic medical device approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the non-invasive reduction of subcutaneous fat utilizing a clinically-proven technique that utilizes cold to selectively destroy fat cells.