BiVACOR: Establishing Global Credibility for a First-of-Its-Kind Artificial Heart

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Overview

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BiVACOR engaged Penman PR in 2021 to build visibility and credibility for its novel total artificial heart ahead of key regulatory, clinical, and financing milestones. Over a four-year program spanning the United States and Australia, communications efforts helped position the company as one of the most closely followed innovations in advanced heart failure therapy.

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The program generated sustained global media coverage, supported major regulatory and clinical milestones, and helped elevate BiVACOR from a largely unknown startup to a recognized leader in cardiac device innovation.

 

Key outcomes

• 160 media placements in 2025

• 6.97 million article views

• 1.17 billion potential audience reach

 

Coverage includes TIME, CNN, NBC News, Bloomberg, The Associated Press, The New Yorker, and leading medical trade publications.

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Supported milestones included Series B financing, multiple grant awards, FDA Early Feasibility Study approval, FDA Breakthrough Device Designation, FDA TAP acceptance, and first-in-human implants in both the United States and Australia.

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The Challenge

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BiVACOR’s technology marked a major engineering shift from traditional artificial heart designs, but its complexity hindered broader awareness. In 2021, the company had limited visibility outside of specialized research and investor circles.

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To achieve its business goals, BiVACOR needed to build trust with various audiences at once, including institutional investors, regulatory stakeholders, clinical investigators, and hospital partners. At the same time, communications had to turn highly technical ideas into stories that are understandable to mainstream media.

 

The extended development timeline for an artificial heart posed an extra challenge. Staying relevant during times without major updates demanded a consistent and disciplined communication strategy.

 

The Approach

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Penman PR implemented a multi-year communications strategy aligned with BiVACOR’s regulatory and clinical progression.

 

Early efforts focused on establishing credibility within the medical device, cardiovascular, and engineering media. Messaging highlighted the device’s main innovation: a magnetically levitated, single-moving-part system designed to eliminate mechanical wear limitations seen in previous artificial heart technologies.

 

As BiVACOR advanced toward clinical milestones, outreach expanded to national and international media. The program combined proactive media relations, executive visibility, contributed content, and coordinated communications across U.S. and Australian teams.

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A key focus was ensuring message consistency across audiences. Communications were structured to maintain scientific accuracy for clinical and regulatory stakeholders while remaining accessible to broader media outlets.

 

During periods between major milestones, the strategy shifted to maintaining visibility through thought leadership, founder storytelling, and award positioning. This approach ensured continued momentum without relying on a constant flow of news.

 

Milestone moments, including FDA regulatory progress and first-in-human implant procedures, were supported by coordinated global media strategies and prepared spokesperson engagement.

 

The Result

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BiVACOR gained sustained worldwide visibility across both mainstream and industry media. Coverage appeared in outlets including TIME, CNN, NBC News, Bloomberg, The Associated Press, The New Yorker, Popular Science, The Guardian, and The Sydney Morning Herald, as well as leading trade publications such as IEEE Spectrum, MedTech Dive, MassDevice, MD+DI, and Cardiovascular Business.

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The communications program achieved a series of high-impact milestones, including successful financing rounds, regulatory progress, and first-in-human procedures in two countries.

 

The company and its leadership received notable third-party recognition, including TIME Best Inventions 2024, TIME100 Health 2025, and several international innovation and industry awards.

 

By 2025, BiVACOR had transitioned from a relatively unknown research effort to one of the most visible and credible artificial heart programs globally. 

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