Cardiogenic shock kills a large share of the heart attack patients it strikes, and the pumps used to keep blood moving while physicians work have drawn scrutiny over complications. Into that gap, Blackstone's life sciences arm is putting money behind a device rather than a drug. The unit agreed to a $455 million arrangement with Boston Scientific to share the cost of developing the VITALYST system, the first time the two have jointly financed a Boston Scientific product, the release said, and the miniature pump, meant to restore blood flow in patients whose hearts fail after a heart attack, is threaded through blood vessels rather than placed through open surgery, MarketWatch reported. Nicholas Galakatos, who leads Blackstone Life Sciences, said the firm believes the system "has the potential to improve on the efficacy and safety" of the mechanical circulatory support devices in use today.
The device already has early human data. A small feasibility study in high-risk coronary procedures, published in a cardiology journal in May, found the pump was placed and removed successfully in every patient with no malfunctions, the paper reported. Its authors cited bleeding and vascular complications with existing pumps as the reason a new design is needed. Shock patients would need the pump far longer, since the platform is built to run for up to four days in that setting compared with six hours during coronary procedures.