FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE — Irvine, Calif., October 8, 2018 – Hancock Jaffe Laboratories, Inc. (Nasdaq: HJLI, HJLIW), a company specializing in medical devices that restore cardiac and vascular health, announced today that it has entered into a Sponsored Research Agreement with Texas Heart Institute for the development of HJLI’s CoreoGraft®, an off the shelf conduit intended to be used for coronary artery bypass surgery. Founded in 1962 by world renowned cardiovascular surgeon Dr. Denton A. Cooley, the Texas Heart Institute is recognized internationally for research programs in cardiology, cardiovascular surgery, stem cell and gene therapy, and regenerative medicine, and is dedicated to reducing the devastating toll of cardiovascular disease through innovative and progressive programs in research, education and improved patient care.

Dr. Luiz Sampaio, Co-Director of the Cullen Cardiovascular Research Laboratories at Texas Heart Institute and the Primary Investigator on the CoreoGraft project stated, “We are fortunate to be in a position to be highly selective of the projects we accept at Texas Heart Institute, and we are excited to partner with Hancock Jaffe on this innovative research. I am personally interested in the CoreoGraft because I recognize the potential and unmet clinical need for an alternative to saphenous vein harvesting, which could positively impact the lives of so many people suffering from heart disease globally.”

The CoreoGraft® program with Texas Heart will start with a thirty-day feasibility study which the Company hopes to complete by the end of the first quarter of 2019.

Dr. Marc H. Glickman, Hancock Jaffe’s Senior Vice President and Chief Medical Officer stated, “We couldn’t ask for a better partner on the CoreoGraft project than the Texas Heart Institute. We have already begun to collaborate with Dr. Sampaio and his team and their expertise became evident during our first meeting. We look forward to working with such a talented group and will announce our first study at Texas Heart Institute in the coming weeks.”

Approximately 150,000 coronary artery bypass surgeries are performed each year in the U.S., necessitating between 300,000 and 450,00 bypass grafts to revascularize the heart. Studies have shown that up to 40 percent of saphenous vein grafts become occluded or clogged as early as one year after bypass surgery. The CoreoGraft is a potential alternative to saphenous vein grafting. Heart disease remains the number one killer in the U.S., accounting for over 600,000 annual deaths. Coronary heart disease is the most common form of heart disease.

(Photo credit: Hancock Jaffe Laboratories, Inc.)

 

About Texas Heart Institute

The Texas Heart Institute (THI), founded by world-renowned cardiovascular surgeon Dr. Denton A. Cooley in 1962, is a nonprofit organization dedicated to reducing the devastating toll of cardiovascular disease through innovative and progressive programs in research, education and improved patient care. More information about THI (@Texas_Heart) is available at www.texasheart.org.

About Hancock Jaffe Laboratories, Inc.
HJLI specializes in developing and manufacturing bioprosthetic medical devices to establish improved standards of care for treating cardiac and vascular diseases. HJLI currently has three product candidates: the porcine tissue based VenoValve®, which is intended to be surgically implanted in the deep venous system of the leg to treat Chronic Venue Insufficiency; the CoreoGraft®, a bovine tissue based off the shelf conduit intended to be used for coronary artery bypass surgery, and a porcine tissue based heart valve, which based upon its relatively small size and increased output, is an ideal candidate for pediatric aortic/mitral valve replacement.