Australis Partners (Advisers) LLC
05/30/2025 | Press release | Archived content
Vitalmex launches the first Mexican artificial heart, a scientific-medical milestone in Latin America
A support device for patients with advanced heart failure, recently approved by Cofepris, which functions as a bridge to heart transplantation, support for recovery, or long-term solution. It will be more accessible for health systems in middle-income countries compared to other foreign options of higher cost, positioning Mexico as a benchmark in Latin American biomedical innovation.
In a historic milestone for Mexican medical science, Grupo Vitalmex presented Vitacor, the first Ventricular Assist Device (VAD) designed, manufactured, and patented in Mexico after 25 years of uninterrupted research, aspiring to be a more accessible option than what already exists on the market so it can cover a greater number of patients.
Presented to cardiologists at an event filled with emotion, it was highlighted as a breakthrough in scientific and technological innovation, positioning Mexico as a benchmark in Latin American biomedical innovation, demonstrating that advanced technology can emerge from national talent.
Vitacor is a paracorporeal device-it is not implanted in the body but rather connected externally-that provides circulatory support to patients with advanced heart failure, either as a bridge to transplantation, support for recovery, or a long-term solution. Verified in Canada, clinically tested at the Texas Heart Institute, and approved by the health regulator Cofepris in 2025, Vitacor stands out for its ability to provide left, right, or biventricular support, and for its accessibility compared to foreign technologies designed for resource-rich economies.
In Mexico, where 1.6 million people suffer from heart failure according to the National Institute of Cardiology Ignacio Chávez (INCICH), Vitacor is presented as a viable solution for public and private hospitals, with the potential to reduce inequality in access to life-support technologies, especially in middle- and low-income countries.
The dream and vision of a Mexican entrepreneur, now beating
At 81 years old, Engineer Jaime Cervantes Hernández, who founded Vitalmex nearly half a century ago, moved attendees with a clear message: "Vitacor is not just a device; it is a symbol. Made by Mexican hands, with Mexican know-how and with love for life." Since the 1980s, this entrepreneur dreamed of a Mexico capable of creating its own medical technology, facing skepticism and barriers. "They told us it was easier to send a rocket to the moon from Xochimilco than to make an artificial heart in Mexico… today, that heart beats," said Dr. Moisés Calderón Abbo, cardiothoracic surgeon and part of the project since its inception.
The voice of the specialists
The event featured a panel of experts in cardiovascular surgery who highlighted the impact of Vitacor. Dr. Eduardo Herrera Garza, a heart failure specialist, noted: "We selected patients discarded by the system. We gave them back their lives." Dr. Óscar Ortega Durán highlighted Vitalmex's ethics: "They never spared any effort for the good of the patient." Dr. Francisco Morales Serrano stated: "Vitacor shows that science can be done in Mexico… and save lives all over the world."
Jaime Cervantes Covarrubias, chairman of the board of Vitalmex and son of the founder, moderated the panel and emphasized: "When the right people commit to preserving life, science becomes humanized." Meanwhile, Vitalmex's CEO, Antonio Buendía, committed before doctors and the audience to expand Vitacor nationally and internationally, maintaining its accessibility.
A legacy of innovation and commitment
Vitalmex, a Mexican company approaching 50 years of history, has driven transformations in the Mexican health system from the outside by pioneering integrated services and medical equipment leasing models. Its new development, Vitacor, is the culmination of this legacy, elevating it to the level of an innovative company, backed by the Cervantes family and its commitment to Mexico. At the event, a symbolic presentation was made to Engineer Cervantes, featuring the framed health registration and a commemorative sculpture of the first Mexican artificial heart. The ceremony concluded in an atmosphere filled with emotion and national pride, punctuated by the phrase "in Mexico, yes we can," which resonated as a closing message, expressing the hope that a proudly Mexican artificial heart will be beating in many places.
With a domestic manufacturing plant and expansion plans, Vitalmex seeks to bring this technology to heart failure clinics in Mexico and other countries in the region, consolidating a future where Mexican innovation saves lives.
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