Blood pumps: Technologies and markets in transformation

The heart failure industry or sector of blood pump technologies comprised o f scientists, medicine, and business has inadequate attention from the fina ncial community due to the perception of unmet market potential and regulat ory hurdles. There are more than 20 mechanical circulatory support technolo gies currently in some stage of development. The application is defined ini tially for emerging technologies as bridge-to-transplant whereas more matur e devices have focused on bridge-to-recovery and alternative-to-transplant. Regulatory hurdles and financing resources have dictated this initial appl ication strategy. Whether a technology has valves, bearings, is magneticall y suspended, acts as a pressure cuff, and so on, the future will belong in large part to those technologies that are less expensive, have improved erg onomics, are simpler in surgical application, and can demonstrate efficacy levels that are an improvement over today's approved devices. Today's devic es have provided a valuable platform for the emerging technologies. However , there has been little market expansion over these past years, relative to the potential market. The cardiologist is the patient's gatekeeper, and dr ugs appear to be the therapy of choice as options are considered. Technolog ies without a business model will have a difficult time attracting much nee ded funding, the result being protracted development times or project termi nation. MicroMed has modified its ventricular assist device (VAD) focus, wi th a broader look at treating the heart failure patient. MicroMed recently entered into an agreement with Chrysalis Biotechnology, Inc., Galveston, TX , covering a synthetic peptide technology (Chrysalin) that when injected in to tissue has demonstrated an angiogenic effect without the concerns inhere nt in recombinant angiogenic/growth factors. We believe a combination thera py of the DeBakey VAD-synthetic peptide could provide sufficient revascular ization for bridge-to-recovery or as an alternative-to-transplant in certai n patients.