Every year, about two million people worldwide die from heart failure. In Sweden alone, it is the cause of death for ten people every day. The only thing that can save these people today is a heart donation, but in Sweden there are only enough organs to save two percent. This is why Realheart is developing the artificial heart. Already in 1999, the founder Azad Najar, a medical doctor at Västerås Hospital, started the planning for an artificial heart and now the research company is only a year away from clinical testing with the goal to be on the market in 2025. Scandinavian Real Heart is one of the projects that we granted funding to in last year’s final call in competence reinforcement in small businesses.

Hello Ina Laura Perkins, CEO of Scandinavian Real Heart AB. Congratulations on the funding! What will it be used for?

– Thank you, we are very happy to receive this funding and have already started the work! We will use the funds for further blood testing in the laboratory. In order to start clinical studies, special blood tests are required and this is where we need to strengthen with additional expertise. The funds will help us strengthen our competitiveness in the international market and enable us to continue this work that is of great importance to the entire heart pumping industry.

How does your product work?

– What makes our artificial heart completely unique is that it mimics the function and blood flow of the natural heart. There is no other solution in the world that can do this today. Our goal is to give the user as much freedom as possible. Our system is completely mobile, it is small and quiet, has low weight and a long battery life. The aim is also to reduce the risk of stroke, bleedings and anemia, which are common side effects when treated with today’s heart pumps.

Today, Scandinavian Real Heart has a strong and very competent team with employees from five other heart pump projects. Collaboration takes place with researchers, surgeons, doctors and specialists from all over the world – something that is necessary  in a very niche industry.

It is obvious that it´s a very urgent problem that Scandinavian Real Heart is working to solve. Every year, about 7,000 heart transplants are performed worldwide, but the demand for donated hearts is, as we all know, significantly greater than the supply. An estimated 64 million people worldwide suffer from advanced heart failure.

Scandinavian Real Heart’s artificial heart will hopefully save many lives, decrease suffering for a large number of patients and their close ones, and also save costs for the society.  We wish them all the best and look forward to following their way to implementation!

This year’s call for ompetence reinforcement in small businesses will open for applications tentatively on 9 March, 2022.

Read more about Scandinavian Real Heart

See a video on how the artificial heart works