JANUARY 2012
It's hardly a surprise that hypertension can kill you. What is less well known is that it can also age you--a lot. If your blood pressure is above 140/90 mm Hg--compared with the optimal 115/75--a whopping 12 years may be added to your real age. That puts you at increased risk not just of heart attack, stroke and renal failure but also of wrinkles and, if you're male, impotence.
OCTOBER 2011
Medtronic has a growth problem. As we’ve articulated previously, roughly 60% of its sales today are in businesses that over the next 3-5 years a) are unlikely to grow and b) face average annual price erosion of 4-5%. It is with this in mind that the company has stepped up its efforts in recent years to augment growth through acquisitions and entry into new markets. Some of these are well known to investors (i.e. TAVI), while others, particularly hypertension, represent new frontiers for device-based intervention. Medtronic’s $800M acquisition of Ardian in November 2010 positioned it as the leader in this emerging field, one which we expect to develop into the next big market in cardiovascular devices. Our forecast, which we outline in this report, calls for a $700M market by 2016, climbing to $2.3B by 2020.
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OCTOBER 2011
The Cleveland Clinic's top medical innovation for 2012 is a catheter-based procedure that could lower hypertension and heart disease. The Clinic announced its top 10 Medical Innovations for 2012 at its 2011 Medical Innovation Summit in Cleveland Oct. 5. The top selection is a 40-minute procedure called renal denervation.
AUGUST 2011
PLC Systems Inc. announced that final results from the REMEDIAL II investigator-sponsored clinical trial of RenalGuard® in Italy have been published on-line in Circulation, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Heart Association with a distribution of 23,900 worldwide, and will appear in the September 2011 issue of the publication. The results from this trial showed that RenalGuard is superior to the current standard of care at preventing Contrast-Induced Nephropathy (CIN) and in-hospital dialysis in high-risk patients undergoing certain imaging procedures.
APRIL 2011
New York, NY April 5 2011 – Symplicity® Catheter System™ has been named as an Award Silver winner by the internationally-renowned 2011 Edison Best New Product Awards™. Symplicity® Catheter System™ by Medtronic Ardian is a winner in the Science & Medical – Surgical Aids Segment, one of twelve categories honored by the Edison Awards.
JANUARY 2011
Start-Up interviews the inventors behind Ardian, the object of one of the highest priced venture capital-backed medical device acquisitions, and between them, five other medical device companies. The team uniquely brings a perspective of applied physiology, and the integration of systems, to the goal of device innovation. In CHF Solutions, they've addressed heart failure with a device from nephrology, in Cardiac Concepts, heart failure by way of a neurological approach to sleep apnea, and in Ardian, hypertension, by studying the functioning of the kidney.
JANUARY 2011
Cardiac Concepts, Inc. announces the first U.S. clinical implant of the RespiCardia® System at The Ohio State University Medical Center, Columbus, Ohio. This was the first U.S. implant in a global pilot study of this novel therapy for treating a large and growing health problem. “The first U.S. implant of the RespiCardia System brings concept to reality,” said William T. Abraham, M.D., Professor of Internal Medicine and Director of Cardiovascular Medicine at Ohio State University.
DECEMBER 2010
The year looks to be closing strong in terms of device M&A as the rebound we noted last month has continued, highlighted by the recent acquisitions of Ardian, with its novel percutaneous technology for hypertension (and perhaps other conditions), by Medtronic in what could turn out to be a billion dollar deal, and Boston Scientific’s leap into the hot transcatheter valve space with its acquisition of Sadra Medical. At a time when acquirers and investors claim to be looking primarily for more mature, commercial-stage companies, these deals indicate that there remains a robust demand for truly innovative devices that address significant unmet needs and markets.
OCTOBER 2010
The current specialty-dominated care paradigm for sleep apnea can’t scale-up to meet the demands of an enormous and serious chronic disease. New companies help move diagnosis and treatment to the physicians that see patients first.
NOVEMBER 2009
Using the first catheter therapy for the interventional treatment of hypertension, this start-up’s technology may be able to reduce blood pressure where drugs have not worked, and holds future promise for heart failure and kidney disease.
MARCH 2009
Ardian, Inc., developer of a breakthrough catheter-based medical device to treat hypertension, announced today that Medtronic, Inc., one of the world's leading medical technology companies, has led a $47 million financing of the company. Joining Medtronic are Ardian's three existing investors: Advanced Technology Ventures, Morgenthaler Ventures and Split Rock Partners, as well as new investor Emergent Medical Partners.
OCTOBER 2008
New investors Polaris Venture Partners, Versant Ventures and RK Ventures were joined by returning backers Accuitive Medical Ventures, Affinity Capital Management and Three Arch Partners to lead a $21 million Series B funding for Cardiac Concepts. Established in early 2006, Cardiac Concepts is developing an implantable neurostimulation device that improves the condition of congestive heart failure patients by treating their sleep apnea. The company brought in $5.5 million in December 2006 through its Series A funding.
SEPTEMBER 2008
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has informed CHF Solutions, Inc. that the CARRESS-HF trial has begun enrolling patients. Sponsored by NIH's National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute and chosen out of 16 national submissions for studies in heart failure, this study will compare CHF Solutions' unique Aquapheresis therapy with standard medical drug therapy in patients hospitalized with acute decompensated heart failure (ADHF) and cardiorenal syndrome.
MARCH 2008
PLC Systems, a company focused on innovative cardiac and vascular medical device-based technologies, announced today that it has entered into a three-year exclusive agreement with Artech s.r.l., Cavezzo, Italy for distribution of its RenalGuard System™ into Italy. Artech is one of Italy's leading distributors of interventional cardiology-related medical devices, doing business with most of Italy's major interventional cardiology centers. Artech will target early adopters who recognize the benefits of utilizing the fluid balancing capabilities of RenalGuard System in a cath lab setting during cardiovascular imaging procedures for patients at higher risk of Contrast-Induced Nephropathy (CIN).
MEDICAL SUPPLIES & DEVICES ALERT
CLEVELAND CLINIC TOP MEDICAL INNOVATIONS FOR 2012
No.1: Catheter based renal denervation to control hypertension. Dr. Steve Nissen discussed the challenges of hypertension. He discussed the SYMPLICITY catheter system, which is a technology Medtronic obtained through its Ardian acquisition.
He said the clinical trials are ongoing and could be completed in 2012. He said believed the technology is something that is transformative and is a "really big deal."