University of Maryland to Collaborate as Subcontractor on $5 Million Program
NEW YORK, New York, April 27, 2004. JARVIK HEART, Inc., a developer of advanced technology for the treatment of heart failure, announced today that it has been awarded a major contract from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to develop tiny ventricular assist devices (VADs) for use in children. A University of Maryland surgical research team, headed by Bartley Griffith, M.D. and leading experts from Mississippi State University and Whalen Biomedical, Inc. will collaborate as subcontractors on the $5 million dollar program.
The new device from JARVIK HEART is a further miniaturized version of the company's successful thumb-sized heart pump, the Jarvik 2000 LVAS. To date, the youngest patient to receive the Jarvik 2000 is a 15-year-old boy. The new model, which will be the size of an AA battery, will treat children as young as a few years old. Later, an even tinier model will be developed for newborns and infants.
In children, heart failure is commonly the result of either a congenital heart defect or a viral infection that damages the heart muscle. When a child is left waiting for a heart transplant, time is of the essence, and many die before a donor heart is available. Assist devices often are used to sustain adult patients who would otherwise die before a transplant can be performed, but most implantable VADs are far too large for children.
JARVIK HEART's new pediatric heart assist pump is intended to fill that void in heart failure care.
About JARVIK HEART
JARVIK HEART is a private company that develops miniaturized heart assist devices for the treatment of severe congestive heart failure. The company, formed in 1988, is located in Manhattan. Leon Hirsch, founder and former Chairman of Unites States Surgical Corporation, serves as Chairman. Robert Jarvik, M.D., inventor of the Jarvik 7 and Jarvik 2000 hearts, is President and Chief Executive Officer. Marilyn vos Savant, columnist for Parade magazine, is Chief Financial Officer.
The Jarvik 2000 LVAS, the company's silent titanium axial flow pump, is used by leading hospitals in the United States as a bridge to heart transplant under an FDA- approved clinical investigation. Clinical trials are underway in Europe to establish the Jarvik 2000 as a lifetime treatment option. The first patient to receive the device, nearly four years ago, has been rehabilitated and now enjoys a normal, mobile life. The Jarvik 2000 has successfully sustained and improved the condition of patients awaiting heart transplants, as well as those who have chosen the device for lifetime use. As an investigational device, the Jarvik 2000 has been implanted in more than 85 patients dying of heart failure. The majority of them were discharged from the hospital and became long-term survivors.
Source: Jarvik Heart, Inc.
Date: 4/27/2004