Innovative Medical Technology Company started in BioPark
A crucial further development in heart surgery was achieved by the two company founders Hou-Sen Lim, an engineer from Singapore and Dr. Wolfgang Götz, a heart surgeon from Regensburg. Both managing directors had already worked together in Singapore and developed heart valve prostheses there, which were manufactured from the patient’s own tissue. In the animal model the implantation of “transcatheter aortic valve prostheses” had already been successful with the aid of a catheter, meaning no need to open the thorax, an otherwise complicated and burdening operation for the patient. This highly innovative new application moved the High-Tech Gründerfonds and Bayern Kapital to support this young company in Regensburg with seed funding. The company has now started up in Regensburg BioPark to make human implantation of aortic valve prostheses without open heart surgery possible.
The aortic valve prosthesis is introduced with a catheter via the cardiac apex or via a vessel in the groin into the beating heart. Patients recover substantially faster from the intervention and are able to leave the hospital following a short period of time. What is special about this procedure is the ability, following introduction and testing of the valve, to reposition this valve if necessary. Concurrently the heart valve stent can be safely anchored without damaging sensitive structures of the cardiac tissue. Currently there are 350,000 aortic valves in use worldwide. This corresponds to a market of more than 700 million Euros. The procedure can also be implemented for the treatment of aortic valve stenosis, particularly in older patients, for whom a normal operation would carry to much risk.
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