A press release reports that the CALYPSO programme will receive 14 million euros to develop CorWave Neptune—a new type of cardiac support designed to improve the management of patients with severe heart failure—as part of the Programme d’Investissements d’Avenir(PIA) operated by Bpifrance.
The CALYPSO Research and Development (R&D) programme, with a total budget of 25 million euros over four years, will be partially financed with 14 million euros support from the Programme d’Investissements d’Avenir (Future Investments Program), managed by the Secrétariat Général pour l’Investissement(General Secretariat for Investment –SGPI) and operated by Bpifrance.
The CALYPSO program aims to optimise and then clinically evaluate the CorWave Neptune device, a left ventricular assist device (LVAD). Neptune features a natural physiological response, according to the press release, and is designed to reduce the risk of complications associated with current LVADs; it is intended for patients suffering from severe heart failure.
Pascal Leprince (AP-HP Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital, Paris, France), comments: “With its breakthrough technology, CorWave is in principle capable of generating pulsatile flow, similar to that of the body’s normal physiology, reducing the serious complications associated with continuous flow pumps. Our teams, in collaboration with the IHU-ICAN research teams and the medical teams at CHU de Lille Hospital, look forward to conducting clinical trials with patients equipped with current and future LVAD technology.”
Louis de Lillers, CEO of CorWave, leader of the CALYPSO project, comments: “We are very pleased to set up major partnerships with world-class university hospitals, thanks to the financial support of Bpifrance and the French Government. The CALYPSO programme considerably increases the resources allocated to preclinical and clinical studies prior to the marketing of Neptune, a cardiac support pump that closely mimics the physiological flow of the native heart. This programme will help CorWave convert its disruptive technology into a sustainable competitive advantage to establish itself, as a global leader in cardiac support, a market that already accounts for nearly US$1 billion in annual sales.”
The CALYPSO programme is designed to incorporate all the development stages of the Neptune cardiac assistance pump, as well as a scientific and clinical support, essential to ensure the device obtains CE marking. The improvement of the risk-benefit associated with LVADs via the optimisation of Neptune’s operating parameters during the program should make it possible to reduce complications and to be able to offer this effective therapy to a wider patient population.
