Neovasc to raise up to $4 million in private placement

--Proceeds Will be Used To Fund New Initiative to Treat Mitral Valve Disease and to Complete Neovasc Reducer™ COSIRA Trial for Treating Refractory Angina--

TSX Venture Exchange: NVC

VANCOUVER, July 21, 2011 /PRNewswire/ - Neovasc Inc. (TSXV: NVC) today announced that it intends to complete a non-brokered private placement with accredited investors of up to four million equity units at the price of $1.00 per unit for aggregate gross proceeds of up to $4.0 million. The company expects that insiders will purchase approximately half of the units. Proceeds of the offering will be used primarily to fund Neovasc's Tiara project, which is developing a novel transcatheter medical device to treat mitral valve heart disease, and to complete the COSIRA trial, which is a multicenter clinical trial intended to demonstrate the safety and efficacy of the Neovasc Reducer™, an innovative implantable product for treating refractory angina.

The completion of the private placement is subject to TSX Venture Exchange approval and the execution of definitive documentation with investors. The securities issued pursuant to the offering will be subject to a four-month hold period from the date of issuance, which is targeted for August 2011.

Each unit consists of one common share of Neovasc stock and one-half of one common share purchase warrant of Neovasc stock. Each whole warrant will entitle the holder thereof to purchase one common share of Neovasc stock at the exercise price of $1.25 per share for a period of two years after the closing date of the offering.

Alexei Marko, CEO of Neovasc commented, "With our tissue business now cash-flow positive and the COSIRA trial, which is designed to enable European marketing approval for our Reducer product, proceeding well, we are in a good position to invest more resources in our pipeline projects. We are focusing initially on our Tiara transcatheter solution for mitral valve disease, a debilitating condition affecting millions of patients worldwide. This program has demonstrated excellent early results in animal models, and this financing will provide Neovasc with the necessary funding to significantly advance this effort that we believe has substantial clinical and commercial potential."

About Neovasc Inc.
Neovasc is a specialty vascular device company that develops, manufactures and markets medical devices for the rapidly growing vascular marketplace. The company's current products include the Neovasc Reducer™, a novel product in development to treat refractory angina, as well as a line of advanced biological tissue technologies that are used to enhance surgical outcomes and as key components in a variety of third party medical products such as transcatheter heart valves. For more information, visit: www.neovasc.com.

Statements contained herein that are not based on historical or current fact, including without limitation statements containing the words "anticipates," "believes," "may," "continues," "estimates," "expects," and "will" and words of similar import, constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, events or developments to be materially different from any future results, events or developments expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such factors include, among others, the following: general economic and business conditions, both nationally and in the regions in which the Company operates; history of losses and lack of and uncertainty of revenues, ability to obtain required financing, receipt of regulatory approval of product candidates, ability to properly integrate newly acquired businesses, technology changes; competition; changes in business strategy or development plans; the ability to attract and retain qualified personnel; existing governmental regulations and changes in, or the failure to comply with, governmental regulations; liability and other claims asserted against the Company; and other factors referenced in the Company's filings with Canadian securities regulators. Although the Company believes that expectations conveyed by the forward-looking statements are reasonable based on the information available to it on the date such statements were made, no assurances can be given as to the future results, approvals or achievements. Given these uncertainties, readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such forward-looking statements. The Company does not assume the obligation to update any forward-looking statements except as otherwise required by applicable law.

SOURCE Neovasc Inc.