December 21, 2001 - Bristol Investment Group Assists in World Heart Financing

NEW YORK- Bristol Investment Group, a leading venture investment and finance company, announced today that it had assisted World Heart Corporation ( NasdaqNM:WHRT) in raising approximately $15,000,000 through the placement of Special Warrants which are convertible into Common Stock and Warrants. The placement was made to a group of institutional investors. Bristol worked with Yorkton Securities Inc. and First Associates Investments Inc., Canadian securities firms, in completing this placement. WorldHeart intends to use the proceeds from this private placement towards continued funding of its pre-clinical and clinical trials for its HeartSaverVAD(TM), clinical trial funding and marketing expenses related to its Novacor(R) LVAS, and general corporate purposes.

Bristol assisted in raising the capital in an accelerated four week time frame. Arthur Whitcomb took a leadership role in structuring and guided World Heart through each step of the financing. Arthur Whitcomb commented, "World Heart is a great innovator in the development of left ventricular assist devices (LVADs) which provide an effective treatment for end-stage heart failure. This round of financing will assist World Heart achieve its near term objective of obtaining US Food and Drug Administration approval of the Novacor LVAS for destination therapy. Currently the Novacor LVAS has FDA approval for bridge to transplant therapy in the US, Canada and Japan. Bridge to transplant therapy is limited to the small number of donor hearts available. Because of the large deficit of donor hearts available worldwide, LVADs have the potential to provide a permanent or "destination" therapy to most of the estimated 240,000 patients worldwide each year that develop end-stage heart failure. The market for LVADs as a destination therapy has the potential to exceed $5 billion over the next 10 years. World Heart is well positioned to not only continue saving lives but also garner a significant portion of this market. Bristol is proud to be a part of this funding.

Ventricular assist devices (VADs) are mechanical assist devices that supplement the circulatory function of the heart by rerouting blood flow through a mechanical pump. The Novacor LVAS represents the current generation of pulsatile ventricular assist devices, with HeartSaver as the next generation of fully implantable pulsatile VADs. HeartSaver is designed to be an affordable, fully implantable heart assist device to provide long-term support of pulsatile blood flow to people suffering from heart failure and to permit the recipient to return to near normal activities."

It was recently reported that World Heart Corporation announced that the US FDA has approved an additional 15 subjects for the feasibility phase of World Heart Corporation's INTrEPID destination-therapy study. The multi-center INTrEPID trial (Investigation of Non Transplant Eligible Patient who are Inotrope Dependent) compares survival rates and quality of life between end-stage heart failure patients who receive World Heart's Novacor left ventricular assist system and those supported by the best available pharmacological therapies.

About Bristol Investment Group, Inc.

Bristol Investment Group, Inc. is focused on serving the needs of telecommunication, health care, and other technology companies who require growth capital, strategic planning and merger and acquisition advice. The members of the firm have a broad range of experience in raising debt and equity capital, structuring and financing acquisitions, arranging joint ventures and managing communication companies. Mr. Alan Donenfeld, President of Bristol, formed the company in 1990 with the mission of providing a high standard of investment banking services to small and middle market communication companies. Bristol is a broker/dealer firm registered with the National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD) and is member of the Securities Investor Protection Corporation (SIPC). For more information on Bristol Investment Group visit www.BristolDirect.com.

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