The MitraClip Gets Gobbled Up By Abbott
Since my heart valve surgery, I have been fascinated by the strategic, corporate acquisitions of leading device manufacturers in this industry.
In fact, I began writing about the ongoing consolidation of heart valve manufacturers years ago. As of late, the “urge-to-merge” has really focused on the minimally invasive technologies for both heart valve repair and heart valve replacement.
That said, it was somewhat expected that a company like Evalve, with its MitraClip technology for mitral regurgitation, would be acquired. However, for some reason, I didn’t think that Abbot Laboratories would be the gobbler. I thought Edwards or Medtronic or St. Jude might be the buyer. (Then again, I think Abbot was one of Evalve’s investors.)
Also, I didn’t think the value would be $410 million considering current revenues. Then again, Medtronic did complete two deals earlier this year (Corevalve, Ventor Technologies) for over $1 billion. I guess both Abbott and Medtronic believe the future cash flows from these technologies will swell from the rate of heart valve disease diagnosis and treatment among the baby boomer generation.
I wish the team at Abbot / Evalve much success in their new marriage. I’ve been lucky to meet and discuss the Mitraclip with a few members of Evalve’s senior management team. They are good people with a solid technology which has produced encouraging patient results. Now, with Abbot fully behind them, I imagine that distribution (sales and marketing) will be much, much, much more efficient.
Keep on tickin!
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About The Author: Adam Pick is a double, heart valve surgery patient and author of The Patient’s Guide To Heart Valve Surgery. This unique book integrates the clinical facts of heart valve surgery with the personal experiences of 78 former valve surgery patients to help patients and caregivers better understand the opportunities and challenges of heart valve surgery. To learn more about Adam and his heart valve surgery book, click here.
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September 13th, 2009 at 3:30 pm
Don’t understand about the comments regarding mitra-clip. Is this in use now at all? Thought we were a couple of years away from FDA approval. Are stats based on volunteers for experimental use?
If it’s being done, where and by whom? How do we get more information?
October 8th, 2009 at 6:56 pm
is this available in springfield mo? will this keep the heart from enlarging?