Realheart Receives Vinnova Grant of SEK 4 Million Together With the Royal Institute of Technology
Västerås, 28 May 2024 – Scandinavian Real Heart AB (publ) announces today that the company has received a grant of SEK 4 million from Vinnova, together with its partner at the Royal Institute of Technology (KTH), to further develop the company’s transplantation system. The project is expected to run over the coming two years.
Realheart has previously been awarded Vinnova’s Smart Electronics grant to design a unique digital model of the human heart, lungs, and blood vessels (hybrid simulator) capable of evaluating the function of Realheart® TAH across various disease states and patient sizes. Based on simulator tests, the company has gathered new important information into how Realheart® TAH operates under different conditions, as well as the technical requirements related to size modifications of the implant. The new grant amounts to SEK 4 million and will be disbursed gradually over the next two years.
With the new grant, Realheart, together with the Department of Biomedical Engineering and Health Systems at KTH, will use the hybrid simulator to generate comparative data between Realheart® TAH and a competing artificial heart product. The new data will play an important role in the company's marketing to clinical researchers and potential investors. Furthermore, the project will enable the company to take the next step in the development of MINIheart, a smaller version of Realheart® TAH tailored for patients with smaller body sizes, including the miniaturization of the device’s electronics.
“We are very pleased to have been awarded Vinnova’s grant for smart electronics a second time. Based on data from the previous project, we have gained valuable insights into the treatment profile of Realheart® TAH under complex disease conditions. The new funding allows us to take the next step and conduct comparative tests with a competing product and develop marketing material directed at clinicians and investors. Furthermore, the grant will enable us to advance the product development of MINIheart, with the aim to offer treatment more broadly to heart failure patients in the global market”, says Ina Laura Perkins, CEO of Realheart.
About Realheart
Scandinavian Real Heart AB (publ) is developing the first artificial heart that mimics the shape, function, and blood flow pattern of the human heart. These unique product features provide completely new opportunities to save lives and give patients a good quality of life while waiting for a heart transplant. Realheart® TAH (Total Artificial Heart) is now being evaluated in extensive preclinical trial models ahead of a first clinical study in patients. In the future, artificial hearts may also become an alternative to transplantation for broader groups of patients with severe heart failure. The company's shares are traded on Nasdaq Stockholm First North Growth Market. For more information, visit www.realheart.se.