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WorldHeart Signs Agreements for
Next-Generation Minimally Invasive Blood Pump
SALT LAKE CITY, Nov. 17 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- ("WorldHeart";
Nasdaq: WHRT) - 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).
The MiVAD design is based on the Pediaflow(TM) LVAD design and
intellectual property. The PediaFlow LVAD, a miniaturized
implantable fully magnetically levitated blood pump, is intended
for neonates and has evolved significantly through design and
development. The latest version of the PediaFlow pump is
approximately the size of a AA battery and was successfully
evaluated in a multi-month animal trial this summer. The
Pediaflow LVAD development has been led by the University of
Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and has been primarily
funded by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute with
supplemental funding and technology contributions from
WorldHeart. WorldHeart, CMU and LPT are members of the
development consortium. The work completed on this device is the
foundation for the MiVAD. Additionally, the MiVAD will
incorporate existing intellectual property as well as internal
and external design features from the Levacor(TM) LVAD.
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".
Dr. Brad Paden, founder and CEO of LPT added that, "we are
pleased that this breakthrough miniaturization technology will
be integrated with WorldHeart's existing and complementary fully
magnetically levitated blood pump platform to meet a new, large
and promising clinical need".
About World Heart Corporation
WorldHeart is a developer of mechanical circulatory support
systems in Salt Lake City, Utah with additional facilities in
Oakland, California, USA and Herkenbosch, The Netherlands.
WorldHeart's registered office is in 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 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.
www.worldheart.com
Source
World Heart Corporation
Mr. Morgan R. Brown, Executive Vice President and Chief
Financial Officer of World Heart Corporation, +1-801-303-4361
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