Use of Ixmyelocel-T (Formerly Catheter-based Cardiac Repair Cell [CRC]) Treatment in Patients With Heart Failure Due to Dilated Cardiomyopathy

Heart failure remains a major public health problem, affecting 5 million patients in the US, with 550,000 new diagnoses made each year (Hunt SA; et al., 2005). Heart failure is the leading cause of hospitalization in persons over 65 years of age with cost exceeding $29 billion annually. Prognosis is very poor once a patient has been hospitalized with heart failure. The mortality risk after heart failure hospitalization is 11.3% at 30 days, 33.1% at 1 year and well over 50% within 5 years (Hunt SA; et al., 2005). These numbers emphasize the need to develop and implement more effective treatments to manage heart failure. Aastrom is targeting a subset of heart failure patient population, namely those diagnosed with dilated cardiomyopathy. The World Health Organization (WHO) defines dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) as a cardiac condition wherein a ventricular chamber exhibits increased diastolic and systolic volume and a low (\<40%) ejection fraction (Manolio TA; et al., 1992; Towbin JA; et al., 2006). DCM is reported to affect 108,000 to 150,000 patients in the United States (Richardson P; et al., 1996; Towbin JA; et al., 2006). This study is a prospective, stratified, randomized, open-label, controlled, multi-center study to assess the safety profile and the efficacy of CRCs administered via catheter in treating patients with DCM. Two strata will be used: ischemic (IDCM) and non-ischemic (NIDCM). Within each stratum, patients will be randomized to receive either CRC treatment or control in a 2:1 ratio (8 patients per CRC treatment group and 4 patients per control group). It will enroll a total of 24 patients at 2 sites in the U.S.