Project description
A smart implantable pump for advanced heart failure
Heart failure is a life-threatening condition in which the heart is unable to pump enough blood to meet the needs of the body. For patients with advanced heart failure and who are either too old or not suitable for a heart transplant, implantable left ventricular assist devices (LVADs) have emerged as a new treatment option. The EU-funded Calypso project will bring to market a game-changing LVAD developed by the French CORWAVE company. This new device relies on a unique and patented breakthrough technology, the wave membrane. Unlike current devices, which are continuous-flow rotary pumps, CorWave LVAD is a smart pump producing a physiologic and pulsatile blood flow, to restore a normal life to patients with minimal side effects.
Objective
Advanced heart failure (HF) is a deadly disease, with a booming incidence driven by durable socio-demographic trends. Left ventricular assist devices (LVADs) are a life-saving therapy for advanced HF patients and represent a billion-euro market. However, only 13% of the 60,000 eligible patients are implanted with current LVADs each year, due to the extremely high rate of severe adverse events (stroke, bleeding, infection) and the limited quality of life.
CorWave is an innovative French SME created in 2011 with a mission to create a new standard of care for advanced HF patients. The company is developing a game-changing LVAD, which relies on a unique and patented breakthrough technology, the wave membrane. Unlike all current devices, which are continuous-flow rotary pumps, CorWave LVAD is a smart pump producing a physiologic and pulsatile blood flow, to restore a normal life to patients with minimal side effects. CorWave LVAD will cut in half severe complications and rehospitalisation costs. CorWave projects to take over 60% of the market and reach up to €1.1 billion of turnover in 2030, by taking advantage of the LVAD market structure, which is very favourable to new entrants (concentrated on a few centres), and by increasing the penetration rate.
We have built a team of 50 experienced people, including world-class experts, and have gained a strong market traction. The clinical centres who support us through letters of intent are worth >25% of the European market. We partner with a network of industrial suppliers and have our own pilot production unit to manufacture prototypes that have proved successful in preclinical studies.
Thanks to EIC Accelerator, CorWave will transform a very promising preclinical prototype (TRL 6-7) into an industrial CE-marked medical device (TRL 8-9) that patients, clinicians and payers are waiting for. EIC Accelerator would place CorWave on a trajectory to become a global medtech leader with an outstanding socioeconomic impact on the EU.
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Programme(s)
Funding Scheme
SME-2 - SME instrument phase 2Coordinator
92110 Clichy
France
The organization defined itself as SME (small and medium-sized enterprise) at the time the Grant Agreement was signed.