OAKLAND, Calif., April 3 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- -- World Heart Corporation, a developer of mechanical circulatory support systems, today announced that it has retained Genesis Select Corporation (www.genesisselect.com) to initiate a comprehensive institutional investor relations program. Genesis Select will employ its unique approach to assist WorldHeart in building long-term relationships with portfolio managers, buy and sell-side analysts and the investment community at large.
“Genesis Select has demonstrated the ability to generate significant investor interest in micro cap companies as measured by both increased institutional ownership and research coverage for their clients,” said Jal Jassawalla, CEO of WorldHeart. “We have established important milestones in 2007 for our next generation Levacor(TM) Rotary VAD. We expect to initiate clinical use of the Levacor in Canada in the near term and start a U.S. feasibility trial in the latter half of 2007. Genesis Select will help us explain these and other clinical and technology events to investors.”
“WorldHeart’s Levacor Rotary VAD constitutes leading edge technology that has received very favorable assessments from key opinion makers in the clinical community,” said Steve Laird, Partner of Genesis Select. “The recently announced involvement in U.S. clinical trials of clinicians from prestigious medical centers such as the Cleveland Clinic, Massachusetts General Hospital and the LDS Hospital in Salt Lake City is a strong expression of interest in the Levacor VAD”, continued Mr. Laird. “The Company has demonstrated the ability to take a device from concept through the FDA approval process, which is a notable accomplishment in the heart replacement category. We are very excited to bring the WorldHeart story to investors, especially given the large valuation disparity between the Company and its peers. Clinical events that we believe validate the Levacor technology have already been achieved in Europe and will continue to unfold in 2007 and beyond.”
About the Levacor VAD
The Levacor VAD is a next-generation rotary VAD. It is the only bearingless, fully magnetically levitated implantable centrifugal rotary pump in clinical trials. An advanced, continuous-flow pump, the Levacor uses magnetic levitation to fully suspend the spinning rotor, its only moving part, inside a compact housing. The proprietary levitation technology employs a unique arrangement of magnetics expected to provide optimal system simplicity and reliability. In contrast to pumps with blood-immersed mechanical or hydrodynamic bearings, full magnetic levitation eliminates wear within the pump as well as dependence on blood properties for rotor suspension, and is expected to provide improved blood compatibility by allowing greater clearances around the rotor and more idealized flow patterns across a wider range of operation. The Levacor VAD has been designed to address the needs of current and future heart-failure patient populations with a high safety profile and robust range of operation.
About WorldHeart
World Heart Corporation is a developer of mechanical circulatory support systems with leading next-generation technologies, headquartered in Oakland, California, with additional facilities in Salt Lake City, Utah and in Heesch, Netherlands. WorldHeart’s registered office is Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
About Genesis Select Corp.
Genesis Select Corporation (www.genesisselect.com) is an independent investment advisory and financial communications firm that specializes in micro through mid-capital public companies. The firm’s senior professionals integrate knowledge and expertise gained over 50 years at prominent Wall Street firms. Genesis Select works closely with clients to maximize shareholder value through strategic institutional investor relations and financial communications programs.
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 statements relating to the Company’s focus on the development of its next-generation Levacor Rotary VAD and the progress and timing of planned clinical trials, as well as other statements that can be identified by the use of forward-looking language. Investors are cautioned that all forward-looking statements involve risk and uncertainties, including without limitation: need for significant additional financing, risks in product development and market acceptance of and demand for the Company’s products; particularly its Levacor Rotary VAD product; slower Destination Therapy adoption rate for VADs and other risks detailed in the Company’s filings with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission, including its Annual Report on Form 10-KSB for the year ended December 31, 2006.
World Heart Corporation
CONTACT: Mr. Richard Juelis, +1-510-563-4713, or Ms. Peggy Allman,+1-510-563-4721, both of World Heart Corporation; or Mr. Stephen Laird ofGenesis Select Corporation, +1-203-341-0214
