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Syncardia SystemsFounded in 2001 by cardiologists at the University of Arizona Sarver Heart Center, SynCardia Systems develops biomechanical cardiac replacement and assist devices. Its CardioWest™ Temporary Total Artificial Heart (TAH-T) is designed for severely ill patients with end-stage congestive heart failure. The device serves as an in-hospital bridge-to-transplantation for patients at imminent risk of death. IndustryWhile more than 100,000 patients could benefit from heart transplants, only 2,500 transplants are performed each year. An estimated 25 percent of patients die while waiting on the transplant list, many have exhausted all available treatments, and others are simply not eligible for transplant because they are too sick. It is these patients that artificial heart systems such as the CardioWest TAH-T offer hope for prolonging life. The device completely replaces the patient’s diseased heart and immediately restores normal blood pressure and cardiac output, facilitating recovery of end-organ function, such as the kidney and liver. As a result, patients become better candidates for transplantation. In October 2004, the CardioWest TAH-T received the first ever FDA approval for a temporary total artificial heart. Business ChallengeSynCardia Systems faced a skeptical public and needed to differentiate itself from implantable heart devices of the past that failed. Everyone remembers the story of the Jarvik Heart which was developed in the 1970s and implanted with much fanfare in Barney Clark in 1982. Clark lived on the experimental heart for 112 days before dying. Soon after, the work on the Jarvik heart floundered as patients continued to suffer from complications. Being a retooled version of the Jarvik Heart, coupled with the failed results of other artificial hearts, did little to assuage the public that an artificial heart developed by a little known company could work and save lives.When SynCardia came to Schwartz in October 2003, it faced a series of important milestones that would have tremendous impact on the PR campaign. Most importantly, the company was scheduled to go in front of the FDA Circulatory Systems Devices Panel where it would discuss, make recommendations and vote on a Pre-Market Approval (PMA) for the device. The results of this meeting would dictate the timing of FDA Approval. While this event would serve as the launching pad to introduce the device and SynCardia to the public, an inherent risk was involved. A positive outcome was not a guarantee and this would seriously impact coverage and how the public would perceive the device.
Schwartz PR StrategyIn order to get maximum PR coverage, Schwartz decided to leverage each stage of the FDA approval process—starting with the FDA Device Panel meeting—as a newsworthy event. Schwartz quickly contacted patients who had been part of the clinical trials and who were alive today because of the life-saving device and secured their participation as media references. The team drafted compelling messages that branded the CardioWest TAH-T as the one and only FDA-approved device available today for heart transplants and positioned it as a totally different device from the failed hearts of the past. The team also created b-roll and animation to help the broadcast media visually tell the story and have access to patients who were not local. Post FDA approval, the team continued to raise awareness of the total artificial heart among transplant centers globally by generating media coverage in major national media. ResultsThere was tremendous media coverage for SynCardia’s CardioWest Total Artificial Heart with each advancement in its FDA approval process. By using the company’s founders as spokespeople, messaging stayed on target and remained consistent in all articles. The broad media coverage established the doctors and company executives as thought-leaders and visionaries in artificial heart technology. The coverage established the market need for bridge-to-transplant devices with articles that cited the thousands of people who die each year waiting for a donor heart. The campaign’s strategic goal of raising awareness of heart failure and the availability of the first FDA-approved total artificial heart on the national level was clearly met through the efforts of the Schwartz team. Highlights of coverage include:
- Front page of the Wall Street Journal Marketplace section
- Cover story in The Washington Post
- Full-page feature article in USA Today
- Feature story in The New York Times
- Cover story in Life Magazine
- Feature in TIME
- Feature story in People Magazine
- Extensive photo essay in MIT Technology Review
- Multiple Associated Press, Reuters and Bloomberg articles
- Coverage in more than 100 daily and online news outlets
- Each local daily newspaper: The Arizona Republic, Arizona Daily Star and The Tucson Citizen published feature articles
- Stories on NBC Nightly News, CNN, CNN Headline News, the CNN Radio Network, CNBC, MSNBC and Fox News Channel
In addition, the CardioWest TAH-T was selected as the top cardiovascular advancement according to the American Heart Association’s annual Top 10 advances of the year list. This acknowledgement was certainly aided by the vast media exposure this groundbreaking technology received in 2004. The PR campaign for SynCardia Systems was a finalist in the PR News Platinum PR Awards in the Product Launch category.
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