Artificial Heart Developer Receives Initiative Award

May 25, 1999 ,SALT LAKE CITY —MedQuest Products Inc., a leading developer of artificial heart technology, has been selected as a State Honoree for the Blue Chip Enterprise Initiative 1999 National Competition. The award recognizes small businesses that have effectively utilized resources to overcome challenges or create opportunities, while emerging stronger. The award is co-sponsored by MassMutual, Nation’s Business magazine, and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. MedQuest will be presented this award at a luncheon at the Little America hotel in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, 5/26.

MedQuest was started five years ago as a private, Utah corporation, by artificial heart researchers who were committed to develop Utah-based technology for widespread clinical use. MedQuest is developing a revolutionary third-generation totally implantable artificial heart, the HeartQuest.

This pump offers hope to add 10-20 years of quality life for hundreds of thousands of people who would otherwise die of heart failure every year. The HeartQuest pump will enable recipients to return to normal activities, such as going back to work, and enjoy moderate exercise, such as hiking and golf.

Using proprietary, award-winning technology, the HeartQuest prototype has been designed and assembled by a team comprised of MedQuest and the Utah Artificial Heart Program based at LDS Hospital. R&D partners are the University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah and the University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia. The LDS Hospital-Deseret Foundation’s Heart & Lung Research Foundation is providing support through its philanthropic sources. This support will accelerate the delivery of the HeartQuest pump to heart failure patients in desperate need. Future returns from the commercialization process will support medical research through the Foundation.

Work on this revolutionary artificial heart has led to other significant discoveries. QuestCoat, a unique and innovative coating, has been developed for the artificial heart. This proprietary coating is unlike any other, and has won a national scientific award for its unique properties. The QuestCoat coating is presently being prepared for a variety of medical and non-medical applications. MedQuest has recently received approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to commercialize disposable electro-surgical instruments coated with QuestCoat .

MedQuest -developed test equipment, originally developed for testing artificial hearts, is now being used for clinical training, product demonstrations, and education in the entire cardiovascular device field. This equipment, which simulates the human cardiovascular system, is especially useful for minimally invasive surgical devices and procedures. MedQuest also continues to do contract research for other organizations in the cardiovascular device field.

MedQuest and its partners will continue to contribute world-class strengths in artificial heart design and development to help the Heart and Lung Research Foundation meet its goal of having the HeartQuest pump ready for clinical use by 2002. This achievement by MedQuest and the Artificial Heart Program at LDS Hospital will once again confirm Utah’s world leadership in artificial heart technology.



Company Background
MedQuest is a pioneer in the development of implantable ventricular assist devices (VADs). The HeartQuest™ VAD is an implantable, centrifugal pump that utilizes a magnetically suspended impeller to provide a frictionless, wear-free pumping action. A VAD boosts the output of a failing heart to normal levels. Congestive heart failure is the fastest growing segment of the cardiovascular disease market and is diagnosed in 550,000 Americans each year; over 200,000 deaths annually are attributed to congestive heart failure according to American Heart Association 2002 statistics .

MedQuest®, HeartQuest™, and MagLev™ are trademarks of MedQuest® Products Inc.