Cardiex cardiovascular health innovation wins major US award

Cardiex wins US$525,000 National Institutes of Health award for innovation in treatment of hypertensive disorders in pregnancy
Medtech’s Pulse device is set to launch in November, expanding access to advanced arterial health monitoring
The Pulse is the only connected vascular biomarker monitor with central blood pressure, heart stress, arterial stiffness, and multiple other novel cardiovascular parameters on the US Blood Pressure Validated Device List

Special Report: In a major validation of its innovative cardiovascular technology, Australian medtech Cardiex has won the US National Institutes of Health RADx Tech for Maternal Health Challenge, banking a grand prize of US$525,000.

In total, Cardiex won US$940,000 through the various phases of the competition.

The award highlights the company’s cutting-edge technology in addressing hypertensive disorders of pregnancy, such as pre-eclampsia, a condition affecting 5-8% of pregnancies globally.

Cardiex (ASX:CDX) CEO Craig Cooper emphasised the importance of the recognition, not just as a financial boost to the company, but as validation from the largest research institution in the USA.

“It’s a nice financial award, but more importantly, it validates our vision and strategy,” he said.

“We’re addressing one of the most significant maternal health disorders, which is life threatening and affects over 400,000 women in the US every year.”

Pioneering Maternal Health Innovation

The win follows Cardiex’s ongoing efforts to provide deeper insights into specific vascular diseases using its “gold standard” arterial biomarker devices.

The company’s latest product, the CONNEQT Pulse, is set to hit the market in November.

It will mark a shift from serving primarily research institutions, large global pharma companies and specialist clinicians to larger and more accessible consumer healthcare markets.

“Maternal health is just one of the areas we’re targeting. We also have innovations aimed at kidney health, brain health, and heart failure, all built on our unique suite of biomarkers that allow us to identify risk earlier and enable better health outcomes,” Cooper explained.

Backed by 50 years of cardiovascular research, Cardiex is known globally for its central blood pressure technology, which measures pressure at the heart—providing a far more accurate indicator of cardiovascular risk than traditional arm-based blood pressure devices.

The company has garnered industry recognition before for the Pulse, winning both “Best in Show” and an Innovation Award at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES), being a finalist in the American Heart Association’s Health Tech Innovation Competition, as well as a finalist at MedTech Innovator.

However, the NIH award is seen as the most significant validation of Cardiex’s technology to date.

Expansion and the Consumer Market

With a focus on expanding its reach beyond research institutions, Cardiex is preparing for the launch of the Pulse, a device that aims to disrupt the market by making advanced cardiovascular monitoring accessible and affordable for everyday healthcare consumers.

“Our biggest challenge until now has been price and accessibility,” said Cooper.

“We’ve been able to take the same technology in our higher-end, more specialist focused devices, and put it into an affordable product for mass markets—targeting primary care physicians, decentralised clinical trials, concierge practices, and consumers.”

With over 19,000 people already on the waitlist for the Pulse, Cardiex is poised to meet growing demand as personalised healthcare continues to dominate global trends.

“We’re at the forefront of providing arterial health insights, which are simply not available from other devices in the market,” Cooper noted.

Innovating for a Wearable Future

In addition to its core products, Cardiex is also exploring partnerships to integrate its technology into wearables. The company recently had a major breakthrough demonstrating how their technology can accurately capture key cardiovascular data from a fingertip PPG sensor.

Cooper hinted at potential collaborations with consumer technology giants, which could see cardiovascular insights incorporated into everyday devices like smartwatches, fitness equipment and even gaming consoles.

“Imagine a touch ID on a keypad providing you with cardiovascular biomarkers every morning, or getting health insights from the controls of your gaming console,” said Cooper. “This is some of what the future of consumer healthcare looks like.”

As the healthcare industry embraces AI and digital twins, Cooper sees Cardiex playing a central role.

“Personalised healthcare is becoming more intelligent, and our technology is at the forefront of this evolution. The data we provide will be essential to managing health outcomes in a much more individualised way,” he explained.

This article was developed in collaboration with Cardiex, a Stockhead advertiser at the time of publishing.

This article does not constitute financial product advice. You should consider obtaining independent advice before making any financial decisions.