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Biotech / Medical : World Heart Corp - WHRT and TSE/WHT -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: the Chief who wrote (449)	9/19/2000 9:37:35 AM
From: Dan Hamilton	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 500

Ok, last time we talked it was late Q1 or Q2 for human trials. Now it is mid-2001... Attention Business/Health Editors: World Heart Corporation begins chronic in vivo tests OTTAWA, ON, Canada Sept. 18 /CNW/ - World Heart Corporation (WorldHeart, or the Corporation) of Ottawa announced today that it has begun chronic in vivo tests of its HeartSaverVAD(TM) heart assist device. One test was initiated on September 5th and completed on September 12th. A second was initiated today. A total of six to eight chronic in vivo tests ranging from one week to four weeks are planned to be conducted at clinics in Canada and the United States over the remaining months of this year. Formal pre-clinical in vivo trials are expected to be carried out toward the end of this year and through the first and second quarter of next year, leading to commencement of clinical trials in Canada in mid 2001. "The current chronic in vivo tests were forecast in our release of second quarter results. This announcement confirms commencement of the program described at that time," WorldHeart's Chairman and Chief Scientific Officer Dr. Tofy Mussivand said. "It is our intention to make further public comment only when this program is completed or in the event that there should be a material change in the formal pre-clinical trial schedule." WorldHeart is a medical devices business based initially on pulsatile ventricular assist devices technology and WorldHeart's related Transcutaneous Energy Transfer and Biotelemetry technologies. HeartSaverVAD(TM), which is under development, is designed to be fully implanted in the chest, remotely powered, monitored and controlled and requiring no holes in the diaphragm or skin of the patient. The patient is expected to leave the hospital and resume relatively normal activities. WorldHeart's newly acquired Novacor Left Ventricular Assist System (LVAS) has been implanted around the world in more than 1,180 patients with end-stage heart failure. In Europe, the U.S. and Canada, the Novacor LVAS is approved as a bridge-to-transplant. This device is approved in Europe also as an alternate-to-transplant and to support patients who have an ability to recover use of their natural heart. In the U.S., the Novacor LVAS is undergoing clinical trial as alternate-to-transplant. WorldHeart is a public company whose stock trades on the NASDAQ National Market (ticker symbol: WHRT) and The Toronto Stock Exchange (ticker symbol: WHT). Additional information about WorldHeart can be found at: www.worldheart.com. Any forward-looking statements in this release are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Investors are cautioned that all forward-looking statements involve risk and uncertainties, including without limitation, risks in product development and market acceptance of and demand for the Corporation's products, risks of downturns in economic conditions generally, and in the medical devices markets, risks associated with costs and delays posed by government regulation, limitations on third party reimbursement, inability to protect proprietary technology, potential product liability and other risks detailed in the Corporation's filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. All financial figures are prepared in accordance with Canadian generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) and are expressed in Canadian dollars. -0- 09/18/2000 For further information: Sandy Armstrong, Media and Public Relations, World Heart Corporation, Tel: (613) 226-4278, Fax: (613) 226-4744, E-mail: sandy.armstrong@worldheart.com