BioVentrix: Reshaping Heart Failure

Article preview from Medtech Insight Newsletter - October 23, 2013

BioVentrix Inc. is developing a unique, minimally invasive approach to reshaping the heart’s scarred and enlarged left ventricle aimed at patients who develop ischemic heart failure following a heart attack. The company has made considerable headway with its technology, which offers an interesting balance between a catheter-based and surgical-based procedure; however, CEO Kenneth Miller, well aware of the pitfalls that have plagued earlier companies in this field, is taking a cautious approach to the US market.

 

BioVentrix: Reshaping Heart Failure

Article preview from Medtech Insight Newsletter - October 23, 2013

There are a variety of device-based solutions under development for the treatment of heart failure (HF), and researchers and manufacturers are uncovering innovative ways to help slow, and potentially reverse, the course of this debilitating and deadly chronic disease. Companies active in this field face many formidable challenges; however, they also could reap huge rewards if they are able to offer a cost-effective therapy that improves outcomes for the large and fast-growing HF population, currently estimated at 23 million people worldwide.

HF affects an estimated five million people in the US alone, and by 2030, that number could grow by nearly 50%, to eight million, as the population ages, according to the latest estimates from the American Heart Association (AHA), published in April in the journal Circulation: Heart Failure. And, as the number of patients expands, so too will the associated costs. According to the AHA, total HF-related costs in the US amounted to $31 billion in 2012, including both direct and indirect costs, and researchers expect that number to more than double over the next 20 years as the HF population expands, reaching $70 billion in 2030.

Much of that cost is due to HF patients’ need for frequent hospitalizations to deal with the debilitating symptoms (most commonly caused by fluid overload) that are characteristic of this progressive disease. In fact, HF is the leading cause of hospitalization among people over age 65 in the US, according to the AHA. With the new initiative by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to financially penalize hospitals with excess HF readmissions (see "Heart Failure Devices: Raising Roadblocks To Readmission" — Medtech Insight, January 2012), preventing HF hospitalization has become a primary objective of many device companies working in this field.

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