Scandinavian Real Heart

The annual conference of the European Society for Artificial Organs, which this time takes place in Bergamo, Italy, between 29 August and 1 September, brings together scientists, engineers, clinicians, and companies working with artificial organs to share their research results, technological advances and clinical experiences in order to improve quality of life of patients. It is therefore an important context for Realheart to be seen in.

Presenting at scientific conferences like ESAO requires either an invitation or submitting an abstract that is heavily scrutinised - and far from all are accepted. This year, three abstracts from Realheart have been accepted and will be presented in Bergamo.

Research and development engineer, Faisal Zaman, and Joe Bornoff, a mechanical engineer at the University of Bath, are presenting two, and the third is a longer talk entitled "Is it time to rethink the role of chronic animal studies in MSC development?" by the company's technical director Thomas Finocchiaro, which he has written together with Ina Laura Perkins.

In this talk, he presents Realheart's experiences with animal-free methods - such as in the lab and digitally - and challenges the industry to move away from animal testing.

''Despite the FDA Modernisation Act 2.0, passed last year, which frees the pharmaceutical industry from animal testing requirements, there is still a strong focus on chronic animal studies in medical technology development. We believe that a modernisation of our industry is needed and want to highlight non-animal methods and present our experience with them. We encourage collaboration within our field to develop more lab tests based on available clinical data from already approved products, to reduce animal testing in the development of new heart pumps'' said Ina Laura Perkins, CEO of Realheart.

Faisal Zaman will also participate in the International Workshop on Flow-induced Blood Damage in Rotating Systems at the University of Rostock on 24-25 August, where he will present the company's work in blood testing.

At the European Mechanical Circulatory Support Summit in Paris on 3-6 September, also an important conference where the leading cardiologists gather, CEO Ina Laura Perkins will give an update on Realheart's preclinical results and development.