World Heart Corporation Signs Agreements for Next-Generation Minimally Invasive Blood Pump

SALT LAKE CITY, Nov. 17 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- - World Heart Corporation (WorldHeart) announced today that it has finalized assignment and exclusive license agreements with LaunchPoint Technologies Inc., (LPT) Goleta, California, and Carnegie Mellon University (CMU), Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania for its next-generation minimally invasive blood pump, the MiVAD. The MiVAD(TM) is designed to provide partial cardiac support between 2-4 liters per minute to less sick heart failure patients than those served by existing full-support Left Ventricular Assist Devices (LVADs).

Mr. Alex Martin, WorldHeart's CEO, commented that, "while WorldHeart continues to focus on the clinical use and commercialization of the Levacor LVAD, these agreements allow WorldHeart to accelerate the development of the MiVAD and related technology in the area of miniaturization of magnetically levitated blood pumps".

About World Heart Corporation

Any forward-looking statements in this release are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and include all statements relating to the advancement of WorldHeart's clinical development programs, the potential clinical benefits of the Levacor LVAD, PediaFlow LVAD and MiVAD, and the growth of WorldHeart's overall business, as well as other statements that can be identified by the use of forward-looking language, such as "believes," "feels," "expects," "may," "will," "should," "seeks," "plans," "anticipates," or "intends" or the negative of those terms, or by discussions of strategy or intentions. Investors are cautioned that all forward-looking statements involve risk and uncertainties, including without limitation: WorldHeart's need for additional capital in the future; risks in product development, regulatory approvals and market acceptance of and demand for WorldHeart's products; acquisition and commercialization of new technologies in the area of miniaturization of magnetically levitated blood pumps and successful development of the MiVAD; and other risks detailed in WorldHeart's filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, including without limitation its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2008 and its Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q for the quarters ended March 31, 2009, June 30, 2009 and September 30, 2009.

World Heart Corporation


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