ValveXchange Inc.

• Author: Peterson, Eric
• Position: COMPANY - Company overview

INITIAL LIGHT BULB Before moving to Colorado to start ValveXchange in 2007, biophysicist Dr. Ivan Vesely worked at the Cleveland Clinic, the Children's Hospital Los Angeles, and the University of Southern California. His concept for a better valve system in mechanical hearts is the basis of the company's product, the Vitality Heart Valve System.

Larry Blankenship, who has been involved with numerous medical-device startups in his career, met Vesely when he moved to Colorado through his position on the board of the Colorado BioScience Association and came aboard as CEO soon thereafter.

Blankenship worked with a Minnesota-based mechanical heart valve company in the 1990s, and the experience opened his eyes to the problems with existing options for patients. "I was convinced (Vesely) had the solution," he says.

IN A NUTSHELL Traditional mechanical hearts are long-lasting, but they cause blood clots, requiring patients to take high doses of anticoagulant Warfarin. The side effect of such high doses, says Blankenship, "renders the patient to a sedentary lifestyle. It will save one's life -- and it has saved many lives -- but it renders the quality of life less than desirable."

The alternative, tissue-based valves, allow patients to remain active but only last a decade or so. "At that point, you have to replace them," Blankenship says. "The majority of patients have to ask themselves, 'Do I choose high doses of anticoagulants or difficult re-operations?'"

The Vitality Heart Valve System solves this dilemma by bringing the best of both worlds. "The solution is to make the leaflets replaceable so that when they wear out, you can service it," Blankenship says. "You can swap them out."

Replacing valves in the Vitality system is "much faster and much easier" than is the case with tissue valves. Instead of invasive open-heart surgery, the procedure will...