"I feel incredibly confident that Ulf Kjellman takes over as medical director and thus assumes clinical responsibility. I will continue as head of innovation with room to focus even more on the continued development of Realheart's entire planned product line, mainly a smaller version of Realheart suitable for women and smaller patients," said company founder Azad Najar.

Ulf Kjellman has over 35 years of experience in cardiac and thoracic surgery. His experience includes a deep involvement in initiating and developing programs for heart transplantation and heart pump treatments at several hospitals, both in Sweden and in other countries, most recently at the National Guard Hospital Riyadh in Saudi Arabia.

“It was an easy decision for me to take on the role as Chief Medical Officer at Realheart. Realheart's TAH is an extremely interesting concept and a paradigm shift in artificial hearts. As a product, it fills a gap in the care of heart failure patients with the potential to save tens of thousands of lives within a decade," said Ulf Kjellman.

Kjellman was one of the first to implant both HeartMate 2 and HeartMate 3, after CE marking. (left ventricular assist devices developed by Abbott). He was also the cardiac surgeon who performed the first implantation of the SynCardia artificial heart in Sweden and Scandinavia in 2008. Kjellman has published several scientific articles on cardiovascular diseases in general and on heart pumps specifically. Thanks to his professional experience, Ulf Kjellman has a large network of contacts among potential customers, suppliers, and partners in Sweden, Europe, and the Middle East.

“We are extremely happy and proud that Ulf Kjellman chooses to step into the role of Chief Medical Officer. Although his expertise has been available to us for some time, it is now even clearer what an important role he will play in our continued development. Dr Kjellman will be a very valuable addition to the management team, where he brings extensive experience in cardiac surgery and transplantation. This in turn will be of great importance for our future clinical trials when patients will receive Realheart® TAH," said Ina Laura Perkins, CEO of Realheart.

Cardiac Surgeon Ulf Kjellman Takes Over as Chief Medical Officer(CMO) at Realheart

Dr. Ulf Kjellman

Realheart is a Swedish company, headquartered in Västerås, that is developing the world's first artificial four-chamber heart. The company has recently taken several important steps forward, not least in leaving the prototype behind and now testing the clinical version of the heart in animal studies, with clinical trials expected to begin in 2024. As a result of this, interest in the company is increasing, and with it the need to further strengthen the finance function.

''I am so pleased to have been able to add Jonas Caspari Bark to our team when our current CFO Andreas Hultdin cannot be available to the extent we need going forward. He has been extremely important to Realheart and it is thanks to his skill and commitment that Jonas can now take over a finance function with well-structured and secure procedures and develop it further'' said Ina Laura Perkins, CEO.

Andreas Hultdin will leave his role on 5 August when Jonas Caspari Bark takes over, but Andreas will remain as a consultant to support the company as needed.

''Realheart's artificial heart is a super exciting product that will help save a lot of lives in the future. I am really looking forward to being involved in the work towards commercialisation. I have previous experience of getting onboard at this phase of the development process and hope to be able to contribute to our success, says Jonas Caspari Bark.

Jonas Caspari Bark New CFO at Realheart

Jonas Caspari Bark

Now Realheart strengthens the product development team with Bruce Wedding, who has over 30 years of diverse software engineering and project management experience. In his current role, he is the team leader in the development of a Class III implantable medical device. Bruce also has experience from active implants, including cardiovascular applications, and has been trained on regulatory requirements for software development, verification and validation of medical devices and other mission-critical applications.

“We want to be able to continue to maintain good momentum towards clinical trials and then Bruce will be a very good support to the team and the continued work of developing the clinical control unit. His many years of experience from having developed Class III medical equipment, of which four of them have received FDA approval, will be very valuable to the Company, says Realheart's CEO Ina Laura Perkins.”

Bruce will, in collaboration with Hydrix, mainly support and monitor the development of controls and peripherals for the clinical control unit.

"When I learned about the great work Realheart is doing, developing the 

world's first four-chamber heart, I had to be a part of it. I've helped develop many medical devices which make people's lives better but none more important than Realheart’s artificial heart. I am excited to contribute to the team with my experience architecting and designing safe, robust, Class III medical device software and firmware.", says Bruce Wedding.

Realheart is recruiting Lead Systems Engineer

Bruce Wedding

Realheart is a Swedish company headquartered in Västerås, which is developing the world's first artificial four-chamber heart. The company has recently taken several important steps forward, not least in leaving the prototype behind and instead test the clinical version of the Realheart TAH in the animal studies that are about to be initiated.

''As we step by step move closer the clinical trial phase, we see interest in the company growing among physicians, patients, the media and investors alike, and we need to have a dedicated, full-time CFO. Unfortunately, our current CFO Andreas Hultdin has commitments outside of Realheart and cannot extend his involvement, so we are looking for his successor instead'' said Ina Laura Perkins, CEO.

Andreas Hultdin will resign on July 31, but will stay on to support the company until a new CFO is in place.

Realheart to recruit new CFO

Christer Norström has extensive experience from both academia and industry.

He holds a PhD in engineering and is an associate professor in mechatronics and professor in computer engineering.

Christer Norström is currently CEO of ABB Industrial High School and a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences, IVA. He also holds board positions in Prindit and Västerås marknad & näringsliv AB.

He has previously been CEO of RISE Research Institutes of Sweden.

Christer Norström appointed acting chairman of Realheart

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''Our thoughts are with Göran's family at this time, and we are all extremely sad to lose a good friend and such an experienced and knowledgeable member of our Board. Göran Hellers has contributed enormously to the development of our artificial heart and it pains me that he will not be able to see it become a reality in just a few years' time," said Ina Laura Perkins, CEO of Realheart. 

Realheart Chairman Göran Hellers has died

Thomas Finocchiaro was born in Germany in 1976. He graduated from the University of Aachen, where he obtained a PhD in electrical engineering in 2012, investigating a linear drive concept for artificial hearts. He has worked for more than ten years at the University Hospital of Aachen, first as manager of a TAH programme (Total Artificial Heart) and later as a group leader at the Department of Cardiovascular Engineering. Since 2015, he has been employed at Reinheart TAH GmbH, first as Development Manager and most recently in the role of Chief Scientific Officer.

‘’This feels like a great hire. Here we have a TAH system expert with deep medical knowledge, who has a broad network of clinical experts, potential suppliers and service providers in the field. He also speaks fluent German which is of great value in our collaboration with Berlin Heart. I am so pleased to have him join my team," said CEO Ina Laura Perkins.

As Chief Technology Officer at Realheart, Thomas Finocchiaro will lead the engineering team and the ongoing development of Realheart's artificial heart as well as future products in the company's portfolio. ‘’The company has strong management and development teams, and has already come a long way developing the world's first artificial four-chamber heart. I am really looking forward to contributing my experience to Realheart's continued path to commercialization and to the patient," said Thomas Finocchiaro.

For more information please contact:
Ina Laura Perkins, CEO, at +46(0)70 406 49 21 or inalaura.perkins@realheart.se
 

Scandinavian Real Heart AB develops a total artificial heart (TAH) for implantation in patients with life-threatening heart failure. Realheart TAH has a unique, patented design that resembles that of the natural human heart. The artificial heart consists of a four-chamber system (two atriums and two chambers) which provides the opportunity to generate a physiologically adapted blood flow that mimics the body's natural circulation. A unique concept in the medical technology world.

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