OAKLAND, Calif., June 6 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- World Heart Corporation , a developer of mechanical circulatory support systems, will be presenting Levacor(TM) Rotary VAD initial clinical results and other related development progress at two upcoming clinical and scientific conferences.
At the American Society of Artificial Internal Organs (ASAIO) Annual Conference to be held in Chicago from June 7-9th, a slide presentation titled ‘First Clinical Experience with the Levacor(TM) Rotary VAD’ will be presented by Dr. James Long, M.D., Ph.D. This overview will be presented in the session on ‘Ventricular Remodeling after Infarction’. Dr. Long, cardiothoracic surgeon at LDS Hospital, Salt Lake City, Utah, a clinical leader in the mechanical circulatory support field, and member of the Levacor VAD Clinical Trial Coordinating Committee, assisted in the clinical training and implantation of the device in Europe starting in March 2006.
In addition, an overview of the device’s development covering ‘Design to Clinical Feasibility’ will be presented by Gill Bearnson, Ph.D, WorldHeart’s Chief Engineering Scientist, and specific test results with the magnetic suspension control system will be presented by James Lee, M.S., WorldHeart’s Director of Engineering.
There will also be several ASAIO presentations made by WorldHeart’s collaborators on the Pediaflow(TM) pediatric VAD. These presentations include an overview of Pediaflow VAD development for infants and small children, engineering analyses such as computational study of hemodynamics, cannula design, as well as surface modification and blood compatibility science. The technology from the National Institutes of Health funded Pediaflow is applicable to an adult, Minimally Invasive VAD intended to provide partial support in earlier-stage heart failure patients.
Concurrently, at the 4th International Conference on Functional Imaging and Modeling of the Heart, to be held in Salt Lake City, Utah from June 7-9th, Pratap Khanwilkar, Ph.D., WorldHeart’s Vice President, Rotary Systems and Business Development, will present an invited talk at the Industrial Session on ‘Imaging and Modeling Techniques in the Development and Clinical Use of the Levacor VAD’.
Dr. Khanwilkar remarked that, “We are eager to share the initial clinical results of the Levacor VAD with a North American clinical and scientific audience for the first time at ASAIO. We are also pleased to discuss key areas of development contributing to the performance of the Levacor VAD.”
About the Levacor VAD
The Levacor is a next-generation rotary VAD. It is the only bearingless, fully magnetically levitated implantable centrifugal rotary pump with clinical experience. 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 with a high safety profile and robust range of operation to address the needs of current and future heart failure patients.
About the Pediaflow VAD
The Pediaflow VAD is designed to provide medium-term (< 1 year) implantable circulatory support to newborns and infants. The consortium performing the early design and development is led by the University of Pittsburgh supported by a 5-year, $4.3 million dollar contract from the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute of the National Institutes of Health. WorldHeart is an integral member of the consortium, as are the Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh, the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC), the Artificial Heart Program at LDS Hospital in Salt Lake City, Primary Children’s Medical Center in Salt Lake City, LaunchPoint Technologies and Carnegie-Mellon University.
About WorldHeart
WorldHeart is a developer of mechanical circulatory support systems with leading next-generation technologies. The Company is headquartered in Oakland, California, USA with additional facilities in Salt Lake City, Utah and The Netherlands. WorldHeart’s registered office is Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
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 regarding the Company’s expectations with respect to the Company’s future development plans for its next-generation Levacor VAD and Pediaflow VAD, including the timing and scope of clinical trials, 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: delays in development, preclinical qualification and regulatory approvals, with clinical trials; Destination Therapy adoption rate for VADs; need for additional financing; 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, as amended.
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,+1-203-341-0214, of Genesis Select Corporation
