Ventracor: device gets new application, third patient dies

Sydney-based Ventracor (ASX:VCR) sent investors into a small spin today, announcing the broadening of its VentrAssist artificial heart Pilot Trial to include heart failure patients on transplant waiting lists.

The company also announced the death of the second patient ever to be implanted with VentrAssist device. Of the seven patients so far implanted with the device, this is the third death. Co-chief medical investigator Prof Don Esmore said the patient’s death was due to the effects of a previous stroke from which he had suffered a recent relapse and was probably not related to the VentrAssist device which had functioned as expected since the patient was implanted 12 months ago.

"We believe the VentrAssist system helped extend his life by nearly 12 months and gave him back a good quality of life for the majority of this time," Esmore said.

The seventh of up to 10 patients expected to be implanted as part of the pilot trial was implanted earlier this month, and is out of intensive care and convalescing satisfactorily at The Alfred hospital.

Bridge to transplant

And according to Ventracor CEO Colin Sutton, the sixth patient, implanted at the Alfred in June received the device as a 'bridge-to-transplant', or a temporary measure, until a donor heart becomes available.

The use of the device as a bridge-to-transplant therapy was approved by the Alfred Hospital ethics committee, according to the company. Until now, the aim of implants has been to evaluate the safety of the device in patients who are gravely ill from heart failure, are no longer responding to optimal medical therapy and have no other options available.

Alfred’s co-chief medical investigator, Prof David Kaye, said the patient was unlikely to have survived without a heart transplant or a VentrAssist.

Although Ventracor shares rose on the news of the new application, they fell again later in the day and at time of writing were $1.62.