Date: Feb 28, 2013 Source: (
click here to go to the source)
 |
CorInnova is has developed a breakthrough technological platform for the treatment of heart failure. Congestive heart failure is a gradually progressive condition in which the heart muscle weakens, leading to a decrease in contraction force and inadequate delivery of oxygen-rich blood to the body. Utilizing the knowledge that aberrant cardiac motion leads to congestive heart failure by causing abnormal growth and remodeling of the heart, CorInnova has developed the CardiacSTAR(TM), a minimally invasive, direct cardiac compression device that restores normal cardiac motion to the heart through the application of gentle pressure. The CardiacSTAR will be the first heart assist device on the market that promotes healthy cardiac motion rather than heart ejection or flow. This restoration of normal cardiac motion enables the reversal of muscle damage, allowing the heart to remodel itself back to a normal, healthy state. This earlier-stage medical device company's technology is poised to replace or work in conjunction with already-existent treatments including invasive surgery, pharmaceuticals, and electrical and stem cell therapies.
Products / Services
The first product, CardiacSTAR, is an inflatable girdle that surrounds both ventricles of the heart. Air inflates the device in synchrony with the heart and increases cardiac output by squeezing the heart. Inner chambers inflated with saline conform the device exactly to the heart. Next generation products include a fully implantable cardiac assist device with an implantable driver powered transcutaneously, which will further reduce complications compared to LVADs. A third product would be a product to treat diastolic heart failure.
Technology / Differentiation
Unlike prior direct cardiac compression devices, CorInnova's technology does not invert the curvature of the heart. Instead, CorInnova's technology corrects bad cardiac motion and promotes correct cardiac motion. This is termed cardiac rekinesis therapy. Moreover, unlike other cardiac assist devices, CorInnova's device does not touch the blood, eliminating the risk of thrombosis, stroke, and bleeding, and making it non-obligatory. The device is also bi-ventricular. The unique design of the device promotes diastolic recoil, which promotes heart filling.
Market / Customers
The 230,000 U.S. patients in end-stage congestive heart failure have an extremely poor prognosis (40% two-year mortality), and treatment options are limited. Transplant is the preferred treatment as drug therapies are largely ineffective, but only 2,400 hearts are available for an estimated 100,000 in need. Increasingly (2,500/yr), left ventricular assist devices (LVADs) are used to prolong life, but the devices require invasive surgery and contact the blood, risking blood clots as well as stroke from necessary anti-coagulant therapy. Once implanted, device operation is obligatory, as device failure can cause clotting and patient death. LVADs and other treatments are focused on treating symptoms rather than recovery, so over half of patients die within five years. Nonetheless, the market for LVADs for congestive heart failure is currently $500 million in annual sales and is projected to grow 27% annually over the next five years, reaching 8,000 devices and over a billion in annual sales. Better devices could quadruple the market to $2 billion or more.
Strategy
CorInnova plans to use venture financing to fund pre-clinical and clinical development, leading to approval and sales first in Europe and then the U.S. Joint venture agreements with leading medical device companies will begin to be explored once the pilot human trial is completed.
Revenue / Funding
To date, funding has been provided by US NIH and US NSF SBIR/STTR grants and the State of Texas Emerging Technology Fund.
