FDA approves IDE study to evaluate HeartWare Ventricular Assist System

HeartWare International, Inc. (Nasdaq: HTWR; ASX: HIN), a leading innovator of less invasive, miniaturized circulatory support technologies that are revolutionizing the treatment of advanced heart failure, today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved an IDE (Investigational Device Exemption) Supplement that allows HeartWare to enroll a second allotment of 54 patients in its "ADVANCE" bridge-to-transplant clinical trial under a Continued Access Protocol (CAP).  The FDA granted an initial allotment of 54 patients in April 2010 and the final patient was implanted under the initial allotment in August 2010.

HeartWare's ADVANCE clinical trial is an FDA approved IDE study designed to evaluate the HeartWare® Ventricular Assist System as a bridge to heart transplantation for patients with end-stage heart failure.  The primary endpoint of the trial is survival at 180-days, defined as alive on the originally implanted device or transplanted or explanted for recovery.  

Under the ADVANCE study, 140 patients at 30 U.S. clinical sites received HeartWare HVAD® pumps, making it the largest bridge-to-transplant pivotal trial to date.  The final implant in ADVANCE was performed in February 2010, and the last follow-up evaluation at 180-days was in August 2010.  Results of the ADVANCE trial are scheduled to be announced as part of a Late-Breaking Clinical Trial session at American Heart Association's upcoming Scientific Sessions 2010 to be held in Chicago, November 13−17, 2010.  HeartWare currently anticipates submission to the FDA of a PMA application seeking approval of the HeartWare System for the bridge-to-transplant indication in December of this year.

Patient enrollment under the second CAP can now commence at the 30 centers participating in the ADVANCE clinical trial, subject to Institutional Review Board approvals at the sites.  

Destination Therapy

Separately, the FDA has granted HeartWare full approval for enrollment in its IDE destination therapy clinical trial for the HeartWare® Ventricular Assist System.  In June 2010, the FDA granted HeartWare conditional approval to begin enrollment in the destination therapy study.  Designed to enroll up to 450 patients at 50 U.S. hospitals, the non-inferiority study, which is named "ENDURANCE," is a randomized, controlled, unblinded, clinical trial to evaluate the use of the HeartWare Ventricular Assist System as a destination therapy in advanced heart failure patients.