DuoCor 2 DOMINATE Study

A Prospective, Multi-Center, Single-Arm Study for the Evaluation of the DuOCor 2 Ventricular Assist SysteM In Patients With AdvaNced BIventriCulAr HearT FailurE

Advanced heart failure is a life-threatening condition characterized by the inability of one or both ventricles to maintain adequate blood circulation. In such cases, medical treatments often prove ineffective, necessitating advanced treatment. Heart transplantation is the standard treatment for these patients, but it is severely limited by the shortage of donor hearts. As a result, mechanical circulatory support (MCS) devices are often employed. However, the most common form, the left ventricular assist device (LVAD), is only suitable for patients with isolated left ventricular dysfunction. This leaves a significant treatment gap for patients with biventricular failure. For this population, current options, such as total artificial hearts (TAHs) and biventricular assist devices (BiVADs), are associated with significant challenges, including high rates of adverse events and suboptimal long-term outcomes.

The DuoCor Ventricular Assist System (VAS) is a next-generation MCS device specifically developed to address this need by providing simultaneous biventricular support. It incorporates two compact, good hemocompatible blood pumps designed for implantation in both the left and right heart, controlled via a single driveline and external controller. It aims to reduce surgical complexity, improve patient mobility, and minimize complications such as thrombosis and infection.

The primary objective of this study is to evaluate the safety and efficacy of the DuoCor VAS as a treatment for advanced biventricular heart failure.

Study Overview

• Status: Not yet recruiting
• Conditions: Advanced Heart Failure
• Intervention / Treatment: Device: DuoCor Ventricular Assist System

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Estimated): 50
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

• Study Contact: Name: Lily Shi; Phone Number: +86 13418601356; Email: shixiaoli@coretechmed.com

Study Locations

• Germany
  • Hanover, Germany
    • Medizinische Hochschule Hannover
    • Contact: Jan D Schmitto; Email: Schmitto.Jan@mh-hannover.de

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: Adult; Older Adult
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• 1. Age ≥ 18 years and ≤ 75 years
• 2. Patient is inotrope dependent, OR has a Cardiac Index (CI) < 2.2 L/min/m2, while not on inotropes
• 3. Patient has left heart failure with at least one of the following criteria:
• Left ventricular ejection fiction (LVEF) ≤ 30%;
• Pulmonary capillary wedge pressure (PCWP) > 15mmHg.
• 4. Patient has severe, irreversible biventricular heart failure and is eligible for biventricular mechanical circulatory support based on the ISHLT guideline. This includes at least two of the following hemodynamic and/or echocardiographic measurements:
• Right ventricular ejection fraction (RVEF)≤ 30%;
• Right ventricular stroke work index (RVSWI)≤ 0.25 mmHg*L/m2;
• Tricuspid annular plane systolic excursion (TAPSE)≤ 14 mm;
• Right ventricular (RV) to left ventricular (LV) end-diastolic diameter ratio> 0.72;
• Central venous pressure (CVP)> 15 mmHg;
• CVP to PCWP ratio> 0.63;
• Tricuspid insufficiency grade 2-4;
• Pulmonary artery pressure index (PAPi)< 2;
• 5. Patient or its legal representative has signed the informed consent, has full understanding of procedures and the study, and is committed to following study requirements.

Exclusion Criteria:

• 1. Known intolerance to anticoagulant or antiplatelet therapies.
• 2. Etiology of heart failure due to restrictive or constrictive physiology (e.g., hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, cardiac amyloidosis /senile or other infiltrative heart disease).
• 3. Coagulopathy defined by platelets < 100k/µl or INR ≥ 1.5 not due to anticoagulant therapy.
• 4. Technical obstacles which pose an inordinately high surgical risk, in the judgment of the investigator.
• 5. Presence of temporary mechanical circulatory support such as Impella (all types) or IABP with a duration greater than 21 days.
• 6. Presence of ECMO with a duration greater than 10 days.
• 7. Patient is implanted with durable mechanical circulatory support (LVAD or RVAD) and has refused to switch to the study device.
• 8. Patient experienced cerebrovascular accident (CVA) within 3 months of eligibility evaluation.
• 9. Presence of any one of the following risk factors for indications of severe end organ dysfunction or failure:
• Total bilirubin > 3.0 mg/dL or cirrhosis confirmed by imaging or positive biopsy;
• Glomerular filtration rate (GFR) < 30 mL/min/1.73 m2 or renal replacement therapy dependence;
• History of severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) defined by FEV1/FVC < 0.7, or FEV1 < 50% predicted.
• Significant peripheral vascular disease (PVD) accompanied by rest pain or extremity ulceration;
• 10. Fixed pulmonary hypertension with a most recent PVR ≥ 8 Wood units.
• 11. Severe systemic light-chain amyloidosis.
• 12. Blood stream infection within seven days. Positive blood cultures reflective of contaminants (e.g., Staphylococcus epidermidis) will not be considered an exclusion.
• 13. Sepsis
• 14. History of confirmed, untreated abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) or thoracic aortic aneurysm (TAA) > 5 cm in diameter.
• 15. Any condition other than HF that could limit survival to less than 24 months.
• 16. Positive pregnancy test if of childbearing potential.
• 17. Lactating mothers.
• 18. Participation in any other clinical investigation that is likely to confound study results or affect the study.

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Treatment
• Allocation: N/A
• Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

1

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: DuoCor VAS; The DuoCor Ventricular Assist System (DuoCor VAS) to be used on patients with advanced biventricular heart failure	Device: DuoCor Ventricular Assist System; Implantation of the DuoCor Ventricular Assist System for mechanical circulatory support.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Composite of survival at 6 months post-implantation	At 6 months post-implantation, composite of survival to transplant, recovery (defined that the removal/switch off all the pump of the DuoCor VAS due to the cardiac recovery), or survival with the device (whether with one or both pumps).	6 months

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Function Status as measured by Six Minute Walk Test (6MWT)	The more meters a patient can walk over baseline indicates improvement in functional status.	Baseline, Month 3, Month 6
Functional status as measured by the New York Heart Association (NYHA) Classification	NYHA class categorizes patients by the severity of their heart failure symptoms. As the class increases, the degree of symptoms is more severe indicating worse functional status.	Baseline, Month 3, Month 6
Quality of Life as measured by the EuroQoL-5D-5L (EQ-5D-5L)	The scores from the 5 dimensions are summed for the total score which ranges from 5 to 25 with higher scores indicating more problems and a worse quality of life.	Baseline, Month 3, Month 6
Quality of Life as measured by the Kansas City Cardiomyopathy Questionnaire (KCCQ)	The scores range from 0 to 100. Higher scores indicate better quality of life and fewer heart failure symptoms.	Baseline, Month 3, Month 6
Adverse Events	Frequency and incidence of all anticipated Adverse Event as defined in (INTERMACS Adverse Events Definition Date: 10/11/2021)	As they occurred, from Baseline to Month 6

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Shenzhen Core Medical Technology CO.,LTD.
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Jan D Schmitto, Hannover Medical School

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Estimated): April 1, 2026
• Primary Completion (Estimated): October 1, 2027
• Study Completion (Estimated): April 1, 2029

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: November 14, 2025
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: November 14, 2025
• First Posted (Actual): November 18, 2025

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): April 24, 2026
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: April 21, 2026
• Last Verified: April 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: Mechanical Circulatory Support; Biventricular Heart Failure; Biventricular Assist Device
• Other Study ID Numbers: COREMED_EU_DuoCor

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: NO
• IPD Plan Description: No individual participant data will be shared.

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No