St. Jude Medical (NYSE:STJ) said the FDA approved its TactiCath Quartz cardiac ablation catheter for treating atrial fibrillation, which St. Jude acquired when it snapped up Endosense last year.
The St. Paul, Minn.-based medical device company paid $170 million in up front cash to acquire Endosense in August 2013.
The approval could trigger part of the $161 million in milestones pegged to the Endosense acquisition that are "contingent upon both the achievement and timing of a regulatory milestone" St. Jude cited at the time.
The TactiCath Quartz device is designed to sense the force being applied to heart muscle during cardiac ablation procedures. St. Jude said the technology "is associated with a reduction in the rate of AF recurrence when optimal treatment measures are used."
"St. Jude Medical has a long history of introducing leading ablation technologies to the electrophysiology community," St. Jude president Dr. Eric Fain said in prepared remarks. "This approval speaks to our commitment to investing in and developing world class, cost-effective solutions that are backed by clinical evidence in order to improve the quality of care for millions of patients impacted by atrial fibrillation."
"The number of patients with atrial fibrillation is growing rapidly in the U.S.," added Dr. Vivek Reddy of New York’s Mount Sinai Hospital. "As the number of patients impacted by this disease continues to grow, it is important to develop treatment solutions that increase the efficiency and effectiveness of ablation therapies. TactiCath Quartz is an important advancement that provides critical information during ablation procedures."