Debt-Free Envoy Medical Bids Farewell to Longtime Board Member

Envoy Medical Inc. announced it has satisfied and extinguished $32 million in outstanding term loans from GAT Funding LLC, in exchange for a $100,000 cash payment. The total included outstanding principal and accrued interest.

GAT Funding is owned by Glen A. Taylor, who also announced his retirement from the Envoy Medical Board of Directors after two decades. “It has been an honor to serve Envoy Medical and support its mission over nearly two decades. With the strong momentum in the company’s pivotal clinical trial and the company’s now improved financial position, I am retiring from the Envoy Medical board with great confidence in its future,” Taylor stated. “I look forward to seeing all that Envoy Medical’s talented and passionate team will accomplish.”

The fully implanted Acclaim Cochlear Implant is touted as a first-of-its-kind hearing device. Its fully implanted technology includes a sensor designed to leverage the ear’s natural anatomy rather than a microphone to capture sound. The Acclaim CI is designed to address severe to profound sensorineural hearing loss that is not adequately addressed by hearing aids. The product received U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Breakthrough Device Designation in 2019.

“On behalf of the Envoy Medical board, we want to thank Glen Taylor for his years of service and his tremendous support of Envoy Medical over the years. With the extinguishment of the term loans, Envoy Medical has reset its balance sheet and we are now positioned to devote our capital resources to the continued development of our lead product candidate, the investigational Acclaim cochlear implant,” Envoy Medical CEO Brent Lucas said. “Our mission is to transform the hearing industry with fully implanted technologies. With a stronger financial foundation, we are better equipped to deliver on that mission. We are deeply grateful for Glen Taylor’s belief in the company—our fully implanted cochlear implant would not have been possible without his support.”

“While we will miss his contributions on the board, we also celebrate Glen’s legacy with Envoy Medical and wish him all the best. With a board bringing more than 100 years of combined medical device experience, we are excited to execute on our vision and further drive shareholder value,” Lucas concluded.

Envoy Medical is a hearing health company providing innovative technologies across the hearing loss spectrum. The company has pioneered fully implanted devices for hearing loss, including its fully implanted Esteem active middle ear implant, commercially available in the United States since 2010, and the fully implanted Acclaim cochlear implant, an investigational device limited by U.S. law to investigational use.

The Esteem fully implanted active middle ear implant (FI-AMEI) is the only FDA-approved, fully implanted* hearing device for adults diagnosed with moderate to severe sensorineural hearing loss allowing for 24/7 hearing capability using the ear’s natural anatomy. The Esteem FI-AMEI hearing implant is invisible and requires no externally worn components and nothing is placed in the ear canal for it to function.

*Once activated, the external Esteem FI-AMEI Personal Programmer is not required for daily use.