• ISSCR Meeting in Melbourne to host over 4,000 attendees including notable scientists, innovators, industry representatives and media
  
• Novoheart’s proprietary ‘Human heart-in-a-jar 2.0’ now enhanced with custom-designed hardware and software which deliver a >200-fold increase in efficiency, throughput, accuracy and sensitivity compared to the first generation
• Integrated with the Company’s proprietary artificial intelligence platform, the human heart-in-a-jar 2.0 is now able to detect drug toxicity and efficacy to the human heart with industry-leading accuracy and proficiency
• New human heart-in-a-jar technology able to adapt to patient-specific disease modeling, presenting virtually unlimited choices for organizations testing new drug candidates which cannot be matched by animal testing

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, May 02, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Novoheart (“Novoheart” or the “Company”) (TSXV:NVH) (FWB:3NH) today announced that the next generation of its ‘Human heart-in-a-jar’ technology - which makes up a key component of its comprehensive MyHeart^TM Platform - will be unveiled for the first time at the Annual Meeting of the International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR), held in Melbourne, Australia from 20-23 June, 2018. The Annual Meeting is the flagship event of the professional society, where cutting-edge stem cell research will be presented to over 4,000 attendees which include notable scientists, innovators, industry representatives and media.  Building on the world’s first and only ‘Human heart-in-a-Jar’ (otherwise known as the human ventricular Cardiac Organoid Chamber or hvCOC), developed by and exclusively available through Novoheart, the Company’s proprietary ‘Human heart-in-a-jar 2.0’ technology boasts substantially enhanced throughput, efficiency, sensitivity, and accuracy for advanced drug discovery.

The first-generation, fluid-ejecting, three-dimensional ‘Human heart-in-a-jar’ is the only technology on the market to date that enables the clinically informative assessment of human cardiac pump performance, such as cardiac output and ejection fraction, which no other engineered heart tissues on the market are capable of. Dr. Kevin Costa, CSO of Novoheart, will present to the attendees of the ISSCR Annual Meeting the new Human heart-in-a-jar 2.0, demonstrating its ability to deliver a >200-fold increase in efficiency, throughput, sensitivity and accuracy, compared to the first generation. This marked enhancement is achieved through a combination of custom-designed hardware and software developed to complement the best-in-class hvCOC biological construct.

With a new bioreactor design that allows precise temperature and environmental control, and simultaneous, 24-7 monitoring of multiple Heart-in-a-jar constructs, intermittent or infrequent, potentially fatal adverse side effects of drug compounds can be captured. Semi-automation of the testing procedures, with real-time visualization of data readouts, streamlines the measurement process and greatly reduces manpower requirement. Software developments enhance signal processing and enable efficient extraction of key parameters from the acquired data that can be immediately integrated with Novoheart’s established artificial intelligence technology, allowing the detection of drug toxicity and efficacy to the human heart in an unprecedented manner. In addition to modeling healthy human heart function, the versatility of the Human heart-in-a-jar has also been proven in effective disease models using patient-derived induced pluripotent stem cells, presenting virtually unlimited choices for Novoheart’s clients that cannot be offered by animal-based testing.

“We are very excited about the second generation of the Human Heart-in-a-Jar technology that will allow us to further offer our clients industry-leading insight into the toxicity effects of drug candidates,” said Dr. Costa. “These latest enhancements further differentiate our MyHeart^TM Platform from other competing technologies.”

About Novoheart:

Novoheart is a global stem cell biotechnology company pioneering an array of next-generation human heart tissue prototypes. It is the first company in the world to have engineered miniature living human heart pumps that can revolutionize drug discovery, helping to save time and money for developing new therapeutics. Also known as 'human heart-in-a-jar', Novoheart’s bio-artificial human heart constructs are created using state-of-the-art and proprietary stem cell and bioengineering approaches and are utilized by drug developers for accurate preclinical testing as to the effectiveness and safety of new drugs, maximizing the successes in drug discovery whilst minimizing costs and harm caused to patients.

For further information, please contact:

Ronald Li, CEO 
info@novoheart.com

Babak Pedram, Investor Relations
Virtus Advisory Group
Tel: 416-995-8651 
bpedram@virtusadvisory.com

For media enquiries or interviews, please contact:
Josh Stanbury, Media Relations
Tel. 416-628-7441 
media@novoheart.com

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

Information set forth in this news release may involve forward-looking statements under applicable securities laws. Forward-looking statements are statements that relate to future, not past, events. In this context, forward-looking statements often address expected future business and financial performance, and often contain words such as "anticipate", "believe", "plan", "estimate", "expect", and "intend", statements that an action or event "may", "might", "could", "should", or "will" be taken or occur, or other similar expressions. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, included herein including, without limitation; statements about the Company’s future plans, its goals and expectations, and the potential applications of its MyHeart^TM platform are forward-looking statements. By their nature, forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements, or other future events, to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such factors include, among others, the risks identified in the management discussion and analysis section of Novoheart Holdings Inc.’s interim and most recent annual financial statement or other reports and filings with the TSX Venture Exchange and applicable Canadian securities regulators. Forward-looking statements are made based on management's beliefs, estimates and opinions on the date that statements are made and the respective companies undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking statements if these beliefs, estimates and opinions or other circumstances should change, except as required by applicable securities laws. Investors are cautioned against attributing undue certainty to forward-looking statements.