Medera and Novoheart Partner to Develop Patient-Specific Mini-Heart Models for HLHS
Wednesday, June 25, 2025
Medera have announced a new collaboration with researchers from the University of California San Diego School of Medicine and the Mayo Clinic.
HLHS affects around 2,000 infants each year in the United States. Although it makes up only 3% of congenital heart disease cases, it contributes to a quarter of related deaths. Despite surgical advances, survival rates remain low, with only half of affected children expected to live beyond the age of 16.
The aim is to develop patient-specific mini-heart models for Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome (HLHS), a rare but serious congenital heart condition.
This project will use Novoheart’s proprietary mini-Heart Platform, which creates 3D bioengineered cardiac tissues that closely mimic the structure and function of a human heart. By using stem cells derived from blood samples of HLHS patients and their healthy family members, the team hopes to build personalised heart models.
These will support better understanding of the disease and may help in identifying more effective treatment options.
The initiative also benefits from Mayo Clinic’s HLHS biobank, which includes samples collected over 25 years from more than 800 patients and their relatives. While some cases of HLHS are linked to genetic mutations, the causes behind many remain unclear.
Traditional models, including animal testing and 2D cell cultures, have limitations in reflecting the complexity of the human heart. Novoheart’s technology, which has already been used to model other congenital heart conditions such as Pulmonary Atresia and Tetralogy of Fallot, aims to address these gaps.
By combining advanced tissue engineering with patient-specific data, this project is expected to support the development of personalised therapies and reduce reliance on animal testing.
Source: medera.bio
