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Proven effective, Heart Myoblast Transfer (HMT) can be thought of as an economical and safe alternative for any patient in need of a heart transplant. This treatment, using only the patient's own cells, actually injects new muscle cells into the heart. These cells take over the work of the damaged heart tissue, and even regenerate themselves. The treated heart grows stronger, and healthier.

The procedure is very simple, and safe. In fact, injection of cultured myoblasts is the most non-invasive, efficient, practical and economical way to revitalize the diseased heart. Using the same, safe intra-arterial catheter developed for cardiac catheterization, the patient - under general anesthesia - receives approximately 10 injections to the heart. The injections of myoblasts, placed 1 cm apart in the heart between the diseased and healthy heart tissue, contain approximately 100 million myoblasts per mL.

The myoblasts are harvested from a cell culture developed from a thigh-muscle biopsy taken under local anesthesia from the same subject approximately 30 days prior to injection. They are 99% pure, 95% viable, and are free of mycoplasma, bacteria, fungi, and endotoxin. When harvested correctly, they exhibit high potency in spontaneous cell fusion upon exposure to fusion medium in the lab.

Throughout the 1-hour procedure, there is usually no significant change in Electrocardiogram or 2-D echocardiography except for minor PVCs when the injections are administered. The patient recovers from the anesthesia and monitored in the hospital until release.

The world's first endovascular delivery of myoblasts could lead to a treatment of heart muscle degeneration that underlies most heart diseases. This pioneering study has now been developed into using the patient's own muscle cells, or cells from other allografts, to repopulate the damaged area, actually replacing damaged muscle cells to regain heart function.

Cardiovascular disease is the number one cause of death and more than $280 billion is spent each year globally in its combat. When compared to a heart transplant, heart myoblast transfer (HMT) eliminates the use of immunosuppressant drugs. HMT is much less invasive and tissue availability is not an issue. The procedure can be done at a considerably lower price than the traditional heart transplant. This cost reduction is due to several factors:

reduction in waiting time (cell production takes from 4-6 weeks) compared to the waiting list for donor hearts
MTT can be done almost on an outpatient basis
MTT requires one cardiac surgeon, one anesthesiologist, and a few additional medical professionals. Compare this to the massive surgical team required for a heart transplant.

Cardiovascular Desease is the number one cause of death and more than $280 billion is spent each year globally in its combat. When compared to a heart transplant, heart myoblast transfer (HMT) eliminates the use of immuno-suppressant drugs. HMT is much less invasive and tissue availability is not an issue. The lifelong procedure can be done at a considerably lower price than the traditional heart transplant. This cost reduction is due to several factors:

reduction in waiting time (cell production takes 4 weeks maximum) compared to the long waiting list for donor hearts
Endovascular HMT can be done almost on an outpatient basis
HMT requires one interventional cardiologist, one anesthesiologist, and a few additional medical professionals. This is compared favourably to the massive surgical team required for a heart transplant.
Life-long immuno-suppressant drug treatment and monitors are not required.