Abiomed has announced two approvals from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) related to clinical research of Impella heart pumps in acute myocardial infarction (AMI) cardiogenic shock patients.
The FDA has approved the on-label RECOVER IV randomised controlled trial (RCT) for AMI cardiogenic shock patients. RECOVER IV is a two-arm trial that will assess whether percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), with Impella support initiated prior to the PCI, is superior to PCI without Impella support.
“This landmark trial will be the culmination of over 20 years of research in the interventional therapy of AMI and will apply all the clinical advancements we have made to improve survival and heart recovery for AMI patients with cardiogenic shock as demonstrated in multiple prospective studies,” said William O’Neill (Henry Ford Health, Detroit, USA) and a RECOVER IV national co-principal investigator.
The primary endpoint of RECOVER IV is all-cause mortality at 30 days. Secondary endpoints include major adverse cardiovascular and cerebrovascular events (MACCE) at 30 days, days alive out of the hospital at six months, recovery of left ventricular (LV) function, need for durable ventricular assist device (VAD) or heart transplant, and health-related quality of life as measured by responses to the Kansas City Cardiomyopathy Questionnaire (KCCQ) at one year. Abiomed’s goal in conducting the trial is to achieve a global AMI cardiogenic shock Class I guideline recommendation for Impella and related best practice protocols, including Impella implantation pre-PCI.
“I am optimistic that RECOVER IV will further demonstrate the benefits of haemodynamic support and best practice protocols. These benefits include ventricular unloading using Impella pre-PCI, reduced LV wall stress, reduced pulmonary congestion, increased collateral coronary blood flow, and enhanced cardio protection so that more AMI cardiogenic shock patients can survive and achieve native heart recovery. The heart team and field have evolved and understand how important myocardial recovery is for both AMI and AMI cardiogenic shock to reduce the growing epidemic of heart failure,” said Navin K Kapur (Tufts Medical Center, Boston, USA) and a national co-principal investigator for RECOVER IV.
Additionally, the FDA has approved and closed Impella’s prospective AMI cardiogenic shock post-approval study (PAS), RECOVER III. This study gathered real world evidence on AMI cardiogenic shock patients treated with Impella between 2017–2019, collecting detailed data including stages of cardiogenic shock, cardiac output, and timing of implantation. RECOVER III fulfills Abiomed’s PAS requirement and the FDA’s approval and closure of RECOVER III further validates Impella as a safe and effective therapy for AMI cardiogenic shock.
