ISHLT (The International Society for Heart and Lung Transplantation) was held at the beginning of April, and at this conference, Professor Johan Nilsson presented the good results from the first six heart transplant patients from the ongoing study at Lund University Hospital. The results of the study indicate that the method is safe to use in humans. This means that larger randomized studies can be initiated with the heart preservation method. If the new method in larger studies demonstrates the same effect on humans as on animals, it will be possible to use significantly more donated hearts for transplantation. XVIVO Perfusion has through its cooperation agreement with Igelösa Life Science the commercial rights to Professor Stig Steen's research in heart transplantation.
Approximately 7,500 heart transplants are performed in the world each year and the limiting factor for more heart transplants are the lack of donated hearts and that the generally accepted maximum transport time today is about four hours. The new preservation method includes a machine that supplies the heart with important substances in an oxygenated solution (patent application submitted) before transplantation. In previous animal experiments using the new method, the preservation time for the donated heart has been significantly extended and that the donated heart´s function could be better preserved.
XVIVO Perfusion has further developed the machine, set up the production of the solution and submitted an application for approval to the Swedish Medical Products Agency to start a multicenter study with the new heart preservation technology. The company expects that the new multicenter study can begin as soon as the approval is in place.
April 23, 2019
Gothenburg
XVIVO Perfusion AB (publ)