Thoratec Announces Development Agreement With WiTricity for Proprietary Energy Transfer Technology (THOR)

Thoratec Corporation THOR, a world leader in device-based mechanical circulatory support therapies to save, support and restore failing hearts, today announced a technology development agreement with WiTricity Corporation relating to WiTricity's proprietary wireless resonant energy transfer technology for application in the field of mechanical circulatory support. Through a collaborative effort over the past nine months, Thoratec and WiTricity engineers have demonstrated the ability to transfer power wirelessly to a HeartMate II ^® LVAD in order to start and run the pump in a setting that replicates the Fully Implantable Ventricular Assist System application.  Under the announced development agreement, Thoratec will provide funding to WiTricity to further optimize its technology for use in a fully implantable HeartMate II system.  The agreement provides Thoratec with an option, exercisable at the completion of the development phase, to license the WiTricity technology for incorporation into the company's broader FILVAS program, initially targeted for the HeartMate II platform but with potential future applications in Thoratec's next-generation pump platforms, including HeartMate III and HeartMate X.