Business Wire

MA-ABIOMED

21.12.2020 14:07:15 CET | Business Wire | Press release

Share
First Patients, Including a COVID-19 Patient, Treated with Abiomed’s Innovative ECMO Technology

Abiomed (NASDAQ: ABMD) announces the first two patients in the world have been treated with the Abiomed Breethe OXY-1 System , a compact cardiopulmonary bypass system. The advanced ECMO technology pumps, oxygenates, and removes carbon dioxide from blood for patients whose lungs can no longer provide sufficient end organ oxygenation.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20201221005403/en/

The system can help provide oxygenation to patients suffering from cardiogenic shock or respiratory failure from ARDS, H1N1, SARS, or COVID-19. When used with the Impella heart pump , it can unload the heart and oxygenate the body, a combination therapy known as ECpella.

The first patient is a 21-year-old woman at the University of Maryland Medical Center who sustained a lung injury and was placed on V-V ECMO with the Breethe system. She immediately began to improve and was able to ambulate daily, as seen in this short video .

After eight days, the patient was successfully weaned off Breethe support and is no longer in the ICU. The patient was treated by Bartley Griffith, MD, the Hales Distinguished Professor of Surgery at University of Maryland, School of Medicine and Daniel Herr, MD, chief surgical critical care services and medical director cardiac surgery ICU at University of Maryland Medical Center.

The second patient is a 51-year-old woman being treated at HUMC/Hackensack Meridian Health for respiratory failure due to COVID-19. After 24 hours of V-V ECMO support with the Breethe system, she is stable and improving. The patient was treated by Mark Anderson, MD, chief of the division of cardiac surgery and cardiothoracic surgeon at the Heart and Vascular Hospital at HUMC/Hackensack Meridian Health.

“Breethe is an important new option for patients with COVID-19 who require ECMO therapy. It is simple and intuitive to use, highly portable and a very promising therapy with the potential to help many patients,” said Dr. Anderson.

“This revolutionary technology will change the way we think about extracorporeal life support therapy by enabling physicians to easily mobilize their patients in turn promoting a faster recovery,” said Dr. Griffith. “I am pleased to be a part of this milestone as Abiomed continues to advance respiratory and cardiac support to improve patient outcomes.”

“The Breethe system significantly facilitates early mobilization and physical rehabilitation, which is critically important in the recovery of our patients,” said Chris L. Wells, PhD, PT, CCS, ATC, associate professor at the University of Maryland, School of Medicine, EBP, and research coordinator in the department of rehab services at University of Maryland Medical Center. She is also member of the medical team who treated the first patient.

Breethe adds to Abiomed’s innovative portfolio focused on native heart and lung recovery. Abiomed now provides the treatment options of the catheter-based Impella heart pump, which unloads the left ventricle, perfuses end organs and allows the heart to rest and recover, Breethe, which provides oxygenation, and the combination therapy of ECpella, when Impella and Breethe work together to unload the heart and oxygenate the body.

The Breethe system received FDA 510(k) clearance in October. It is being rolled out through a controlled launch at select hospitals in the United States, with full U.S. commercial availability expected in calendar year 2021.

ABOUT ABIOMED

Based in Danvers, Massachusetts, USA, Abiomed, Inc. is a leading provider of medical devices that provide circulatory support. Our products are designed to enable the heart to rest by improving blood flow and/or performing the pumping of the heart. For additional information, please visit: www.abiomed.com .

ABOUT ABIOMED BREETHE OXY-1 SYSTEM

The Abiomed Breethe OXY-1 System™ is cleared by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to provide extracorporeal circulation. The OXY-1 System pumps, oxygenates and removes carbon dioxide from blood during cardiopulmonary bypass up to six (6) hours in duration.

Under guidance issued by FDA, on April 6, 2020, the Abiomed Breethe OXY-1 System is now permitted to be used temporarily in the U.S. for ECMO therapy greater than six hours. Therefore, it now has a limited indication modification for use longer than six hours in an extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) circuit to treat patients who are experiencing acute temporary respiratory or acute cardiopulmonary failure. This limited indication modification for ECMO therapy greater than six hours has not been cleared or approved by FDA and is in effect only for the duration of the public health emergency related to COVID-19 as declared by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This press release contains forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties such as those described in Abiomed's periodic reports on file with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Actual results may differ materially from anticipated results.

About Business Wire

Business Wire
Business Wire
101 California Street, 20th Floor
CA 94111 San Francisco

http://businesswire.com

Subscribe to releases from Business Wire

Subscribe to all the latest releases from Business Wire by registering your e-mail address below. You can unsubscribe at any time.

Latest releases from Business Wire

Visa Opens the Door to AI-Driven Shopping for Businesses Worldwide8.4.2026 18:00:00 CEST | Press release

Part of the Visa Intelligent Commerce portfolio, Intelligent Commerce Connect will enable more ways for agents to pay and merchants to accept agentic transactions in a single integrationCurrently in pilot with select partners including Aldar, AWS, Diddo, Highnote, Mesh, Payabli, Sumvin, and rolling out to more partners this year Visa Inc. (NYSE: V) today unveiled Intelligent Commerce Connect, a new solution that makes it easier for businesses to connect to and participate in AI-powered commerce. Intelligent Commerce Connect acts as a network, protocol, and token vault-agnostic ‘on ramp’ to agentic commerce for agent builders, merchants, and enablers. As consumers increasingly rely on AI agents to make purchases, businesses – whether they are building agents, selling to them, or processing transactions – need a simple way to get started. Intelligent Commerce Connect, part of the Visa Intelligent Commerce portfolio, meets that need. Through a single integration via the Visa Acceptance Pl

Sumitomo Corporation, SMBC Aviation Capital, Apollo and Brookfield Complete the Acquisition of Air Lease Corporation8.4.2026 15:13:00 CEST | Press release

Sumitomo Corporation, SMBC Aviation Capital, Apollo-managed funds (“Apollo”) and Brookfield today announced that they have completed the previously announced acquisition of Air Lease Corporation (“Air Lease”) and have renamed the business Sumisho Air Lease Corporation (“Sumisho Air Lease”). This transformational transaction improves the financial position of the business with long term support and aviation expertise from co-investors Sumitomo Corporation, SMBC Aviation Capital, Apollo and Brookfield. Sumisho Air Lease’s strong foundation as an established aircraft lessor, supported by SMBC Aviation Capital’s industry‑leading capabilities as servicer, creates a platform with the scale and financial strength needed to meet the fast‑changing and increasingly complex requirements of airline customers. Sumisho Air Lease will also benefit from the deep expertise and long-standing commitment that both Sumitomo Corporation and SMBC Aviation Capital bring to the global aviation leasing sector.

Sitetracker Launches Scout, an Agentic AI Platform Purpose-Built for Critical Infrastructure8.4.2026 15:00:00 CEST | Press release

Sitetracker, the leading Asset Lifecycle Management platform for critical infrastructure, today announced the launch of Scout, its new Agentic AI platform designed to help infrastructure owners, operators, and contractors gain deep insights and drive automation within their operations. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260408923336/en/ Scout, ready for real work As your AI analyst and agent, Scout is ready to work on day 1. Scout provides clarity when decisions are forming and momentum when action is required. It surfaces risk, synthesizes information, and helps accelerate execution by connecting data and driving action. Scout creates operational intelligence and turns it into action all in a secure environment that protects data sovereignty. “Our customers are looking to create compounding competitive advantages,” said Giuseppe Incitti, Chief Executive Officer of Sitetracker. “Scout delivers by providing easy t

Westinghouse Hosts Annual VVER Fuel Forum with Customers8.4.2026 15:00:00 CEST | Press release

Westinghouse currently has fuel supply contracts with all the European VVER operators Westinghouse and MVM Paks Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) recently co-hosted the VVER Fuel Forum in Budapest to share insights and plans for the continued deployment of VVER-1000 and VVER-440 fuel in operating reactors. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260408646373/en/ Participants to the VVER Fuel Forum Péter János Horváth, CEO of MVM Paks, welcomed all the participants, highlighting that Hungary is ending two decades of single supplier fuel dependency thanks to the agreement recently signed with Westinghouse to supply the VVER-440 NOVA E-6 fuel design. Six customers presented the progress made and positive outcomes achieved in the past years with the introduction of Westinghouse fuel into mixed cores with resident fuel in their reactors: Energoatom has extensive experience with Westinghouse VVER-440 and VVER-1000 fuel, currently u

Virica Biotech and FUJIFILM Biosciences Collaborate Under the Canada–Japan Co‑Innovation Program to Advance AAV Production Enhancers8.4.2026 15:00:00 CEST | Press release

Efficient production of Adeno-Associated Virus (AAV) vectors at scale for in vivo gene therapies remains a key bottleneck for broad patient access and sustainable manufacturing costs.Virica and FUJIFILM Biosciences will co-develop an off-the-shelf enhancer–media solution to boost AAV yields and process robustness in FUJIFILM Biosciences BalanCD® HEK293 system. Virica Biotech (“Virica”), a cell enhancer company specializing in Viral Sensitizers (VSE™) for viral vector manufacturing, today announced it is receiving advisory services and funding from the National Research Council of Canada Industrial Research Assistance Program (NRC IRAP), under the Canada–Japan Corporate Co-Innovation Program for a collaboration with FUJIFILM Biosciences. The collaboration will focus on optimizing a VSE™ formulation for FUJIFILM Biosciences BalanCD HEK293 media to support academic and commercial AAV producers globally. AAV vectors are a cornerstone of in vivo gene delivery for gene therapies, but they re

In our pressroom you can read all our latest releases, find our press contacts, images, documents and other relevant information about us.

Visit our pressroom
World GlobeA line styled icon from Orion Icon Library.HiddenA line styled icon from Orion Icon Library.Eye