Supporting patients with heart failure is the business that Thoratec Corp is engaged in. The company stands as a leader in mechanical circulatory support that has a broad range of portfolio to treat various clinical needs of these patients.
Some of the company’s well known products are the Thoratec VAD (Ventricular Assist Device), HeartMate LVAS (Left Ventricular Assist System) and CentriMag Blood Pumping System. The latter is used for patients with acute heart failure while the first two devices are implanted in the patients with advanced heart failure. While heart transplantation is deemed as the most effective means of survival, only 2,100 patients with heart failure problems receive this treatment while the some 250,000 need to venture to other methods of treatment. This is where Thoratec is able to reach out to those in need of their service. The company works directly with surgeons, cardiologists and VAD coordinators, providing them training, educational materials regarding the treatment, building community awareness and offering patient support. They also push for advancements in MCS therapy through charitable and educational grants.
Thoratec Corp’s HeartMate IP LVAD product was used for bridge to transplantation and was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 1994. The product became the first commercially implantable LVAD in the United States. The European Conformity Mark (CE Mark) gave their approval in 1994 and Canada followed suit in 1998. The HeartMate family brand of the business remains to spearhead technological upgrades in the VAD market. Part of this innovation is the Thoratec HeartMate XVE which remains to be one of the most used LVADs in the world.
The company holds its headquarters in Pleasanton, California. Its manufacturing sites are located in California, New Jersey, Massachusetts and in the United Kingdom. The business remains to be a publicly traded enterprise with common stocks traded on the NASDAQ since 1981.
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