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New "Artificial Heart" to Provide Long-term Support for Patients with Heart Failure
Ascenion obtains equity in Dualis MedTech in return for spin-off coaching

05 Mar 2008 - Ascenion GmbH announced that it has obtained equity in Dualis MedTech GmbH, a venture founded in late 2006 to develop and market novel medical-technical implants for the support of critically ill heart patients. Over the last one and a half years, Ascenion has coached the founding team through the pre-seed phase providing advice on all aspects of business and financial planning, company form and structuring and helping with the negotiation of licensing contracts.
 
Core to Dualis' business model is a new ventricular assist device consisting of a fully implantable mechanical pump and a wireless energy transfer system. It does not replace the natural heart but rather helps a diseased heart to pump blood through the body. Due to a flow-optimized pump, it solves problems of blood-clotting or haemolysis usually associated with mechanical blood pumping. Moreover, it is the first ventricular assist device to allow free movement of the patient and avoid the risk of infection, as there is no extracorporal pump or transcutaneous wire. The small, wireless control and energy supply unit can simply be worn on the belt.
 
Prototypes of the pump and energy transfer system were manufactured and tested at the Institute of Robotics and Mechatronics of the German Aerospace Center (DLR). In-vitro endurance tests confirmed feasibility and reliability of the approach. Animal studies are scheduled to start this year. In parallel, Dualis intends to outlicence the wireless energy transfer system to manufacturers of active implants with applications outside its own business focus.