Periodic Reporting for period 2 - Neuron-AFib (Commercialising cardiac autonomic modulation to treat Atrial Fibrillation)
Berichtszeitraum: 2021-02-01 bis 2022-07-31
The economic burden of atrial fibrillation is substantial – it is estimated that approximately 2.6% of all healthcare expenditure in Europe is spent on AFib. The annual cost of dealing with stoke that originates from AFib is estimated to be €45 billion a year in the EU.
AtriAN Medical is bringing a revolutionary treatment to market that is the first to specifically target the autonomic origin of the signal that causes AFib, thus eliminating the arrhythmia early and preventing disease progression. In addition to increased success rates, the AtriAN technology will reduce the risk of complications and the procedure will be done in a fraction of the time needed for current treatments; approximately 2 hours compared to 6-8 hours.
AtriAN's technology uses specialized catheters delivering short pulses of low energy electrical fields to discrete sites of autonomic hyperactive nerves located on the outside surface of the heart. This pulsed electric field selectively ablates these autonomic nerve structures, providing a long-term resolution to AFib. The treatment may be used as a stand-alone approach in certain patients or can be used in conjunction with conventional treatments to improve outcomes.
The overall objective of the Neuron-AFib project was to complete a first-in-human (FIH) trial to evaluate this technology; to provide data on safety and feasibility data. This trial was successfully completed with safety and feasibility data obtained for 24 patients as well as promising acute measures of longer term efficacy. This now enables AtriAN to progress to further trials in order to get regulatory approvals for sale of the device in Europe and the US. In parallel with the FIH trial development on a next generation of the device, for minimally invasive access, was also performed.
In parallel with the open-chest FIH study, work was also performed on developing a minimally invasive version of the device. This has been designed to gain access to the outside of the heart using a small needle access pathway just beneath the chest. Bench testing of the device progressed well and the design was finalized, with prototypes being manufactured for testing in an animal model setting. These pre-clinical studies showed good performance in terms of being able to achieve minimally invasive access and navigate around the outside of the heart – as well as being able to successfully deliver the ablation energy. With some final manufacturing optimization, this device will be ready for clinical evaluation as the next step towards commercialisation.
The clinical work completed within the Neuron-AFib project now positions AtriAN strongly for moving forward with further studies that will ultimately allow the device to be approved for sale in Europe and the US. This will provide clinicians with an option for improving long term outcomes – this will save cost on avoiding repeat ablations and will also make it more likely that people will opt for treatment – reducing the overall healthcare burden and improving patient wellbeing.