A couple of years ago, New Brighton–based Acorn received national press for its CorCap cardiac support device—essentially, a mesh bag implanted around the heart to reduce stress on the ventricular walls in patients with heart failure, a condition that affects about 5 million Americans. Acorn, which had attracted more than $80 million in investment capital, had begun to sell its device in Europe, and was expecting U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval of CorCap early in 2005.
It hasn’t happened yet. The FDA turned Acorn down that year unconvinced about the product’s efficacy. But in December, Lunsford and his team planned to meet with an FDA panel again to see if scientific issues could be hashed out. Will Acorn get the chance to grow into a mighty oak?
