Exhibit 99.1

 

Picard Medical and its Subsidiary, SynCardia Systems, a Pioneer in Total Artificial Heart Technology, to Become a Publicly Traded Company via Merger with Altitude Acquisition Corp.

SynCardia Manufactures and Distributes the First-and-Only Commercially Available and FDA Approved Total Artificial Heart

SynCardia is Entering a Rapid Growth Phase Supported by New Product Development, Label Expansion, and International Growth

Transaction Estimates a Pre-Money Enterprise Value of $480 Million for Picard Medical

Picard Medical Stockholders Will Roll 100% of Their Existing Equity Holdings into the Combined Company

Palo Alto, CA & Tucson, AZ & Atlanta, GA April 24, 2023 Picard Medical, Inc. (Picard Medical), the parent company of SynCardia Systems, LLC (SynCardia), a global leader in mechanical heart replacement technology, today announced that it has entered into a definitive business combination agreement with Altitude Acquisition Corp. (Altitude) (NASDAQ: ALTU), a publicly traded special purpose acquisition company, that will result in Picard Medical becoming a publicly listed company.

Upon closing of the transaction, Altitude will be renamed Picard Medical Holdings, Inc. and is expected to remain listed on Nasdaq.

SynCardia manufactures, sells, and markets the worlds first and only FDA approved and commercially available Total Artificial Heart (TAH) to replace the full functions of a failing or failed human heart caused by end-stage, biventricular heart failure. SynCardias products are approved for use in many countries, including the United States and Canada. SynCardia is working with regulatory authorities to have its CE mark reinstated under EU MDR for most European Union countries. SynCardia has successfully completed over 2,000 implants at over 140 hospitals, prolonging the lives of patients facing terminal outcomes with few alternative treatment options available.

Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death globally and has resulted in 64.3 million heart failure patients worldwide. SynCardias TAH has been designed to address the growing and unmet needs of this patient population, which represents a multi-billion-dollar market opportunity.

In the United States alone, there are approximately 6.2 million cases of heart failure annually, leading to over 380,000 deaths and $30.7 billion in medical costs. The only definitive therapy for end-stage heart failure is heart transplantation, and it is estimated that 300,000 patients currently require this treatment option. Due to a limited supply of donor hearts, little more than 3,000 (or approximately 1%) of these patients will receive a heart transplant. There remains a significant need for a reliable mechanical heart replacement solution to address this shortfall and SynCardias TAH is the only FDA approved option available to satisfy this growing and unmet need in the United States.