2nd Day-4th Talk: “Aquapheresis and Congestive Heart Failure” by Hal Liberman

Hal Liberman is the CEO of Hemo Therapeutics, Inc. formerly known as PhereSys Therapeutics, and he joined us today to discuss an exciting new method as an alternative to dialysis and/or diuretics.

Heart Failure is the inability of a damaged heart to efficiently pump blood. This results in fluid and salt retention, shortness of breath, and kidney failure. Treatment for heart failure can be as simple as diet restrictions and can expand to include devices to improve the pumping efficiency of the heart. Several medications are also used to treat heart failure, such as: ACE inhibitors, ARBs, beta blockers, vasodilators, and diuretics. Heart failure is the most expensive diagnosis in the Medicare Program with over $30 billion per year allocated to treatment of this disease. Five million patients today suffer from heart failure and it is estimated this number will double in the next twenty years with the aging of the 78 million baby boomers.

What are some of the issues associated with using diuretics to treat heart failure? They no not remove enough salt with the water which results in salt retention in the body. Patients can also develop a resistance to these drugs and large doses can damage the kidneys. 40% of discharged patients are still symptomatic and 50% of discharged patients will be readmitted within 6 months (appropriately nicknamed “frequent flyers”)

The aquapheresis solution safely and effectively removes salt and water without drugs, and this enables the kidney to ‘reset’ itself hormonally. The magic is in the filter that removes the water on one side and returns everything else on the other side of the device.

In one study, named “UNLOAD”, there was a 50% reduction in readmissions at 90 days after aquapheresis treatment compared to I.V. diuretics (standard of care). There was also a 52% reduction in E.R. and clinic visits. In another clinical study, “EUPHORIA”, the hospital lengths of stay were reduced by 40% and the clinical benefits lasted up to 90 days. The FDA cleared the use of aquapheresis technology in 2002. 8,000 patients have been treated so far with 5,000 of those patients having been treated within the past year.

The greatest benefit of using aqauapheresis technology is that it is safe. There have been fewer incidences of crashing compared to dialysis because very little of the patient’s blood volume is outside their body at any given time. Aquapheresis also maintains an electrolyte balance and allows for peripheral venous access. HemoTherpuetics provides Aquapheresis services to hospitals and in outpatient centers. In order for a patient to be treated with HemoTherapeutics, they must have a blood pressure of at least 90 systolic. The First HemoTherapy Center is located in Las Vegas, NV.

Mr. Liberman discussed several case examples. One patient had 46lbs of excess fluid and salt. He was treated for 3 days with aquapheresis, and it prevented him from otherwise having gone into complete kidney failure. In another case, a ‘problem patient’ was hospitalized for two months, unable to be discharged, and he was discharged the next day after only 2 treatments with aquapheresis.

In summary, heart failure is the number one expense of the Medicare program and its growing rapidly, thus this is a condition of growing concern. Aquapheresis has the potential to significantly reduce these growing expenses and improve the lives of heart failure patients. HemoTherapeutics has developed a business model to maximize the efficient roll-out of this technology.