Boston Scientific (NYSE:BSX) said today that it boosted its stake in stealthy Israeli medical device company MValve, which is developing “docking” technology for transcatheter mitral valve implants.
Marlborough, Mass.-based Boston Scientific put $15 million into MValve last year in a deal that included a $200 million buyout option. MValve, which is based in San Diego and Herzeliya, Israel, this week reported the 1st-in-human implantation using its device and Boston Scientific’s Lotus transcatheter valve implant. Its docking device is designed to mimic valve-in-valve or valve-in-ring procedures by creating a secure platform within the mitral annulus for implantation of a TMVI or TAVI device like the Lotus, according to MValve founder & medical director Dr. Maurice Buchbinder. The MValve device and the Lotus valve are designed to be re-positioned and recaptured.
Proceeds from the latest funding round are slated for a 1st-in-human trial, Boston Scientific said today. The company took out a stake in MValve in 2012, a year after its founding. Stealthy Mvalve has a single-page website listing only its name, an owner login and the slogan “A paradigm shift in the treatment of mitral regurgitation.”
“The TMVI segment represents another significant growth opportunity as we continue to build our structural heart portfolio,” Boston Scientific’s interventional cardiology president, Kevin Ballinger, said in prepared remarks. “This round of financing will support the development of the MValve technology in anticipation of a 1st-in-human clinical trial, and we are pleased to be continuing our collaboration.”
“MValve is proud of our truly novel technology, and we look forward to continued development of this unique mitral system — a system that we anticipate will finally provide physicians with a transformative solution and offer patients the appropriate treatment they deserve,” Buchbinder added.
Mvalve has filed 3 patent applications, 2 covering “Cardiac Valve Support Structure” and another covering “Cardiac Valve Modification Device,” according to PatentBuddy.