Acutus Medical and Innovative Health this week announced a partnership that will combine the companies’ portfolios of electrophysiology products.
The companies plan to work together to gain clearances, market products and rein in per-procedure costs while using hospital money for emerging technologies, according to a news release.
Recognizing the constraints that hospitals and health systems face in delivering quality patient care at a sustainable cost is fundamental in the current healthcare environment. Safe, proven and effective reprocessing of high-cost single-use devices offers a reliable avenue for hospitals to combine the best of both worlds: Best-in-class, state-of-the-art technologies together with cost-effective, sustainable per-procedure costs.
Carlsbad, Calif.-based Acutus makes the AcQMap tech to aid in ablation treatment of arrhythmias, as well as a line of vascular access products. Its latest financing includes a $170 million Series D round in June, which followed $100 million Series D offering and a $70 million credit facility, all earmarked for commercialization and business development. AcQMap and its 3D mapping catheter won 510(k) clearance from the FDA in October 2017, while expanded CE Mark approval in the European Union and FDA clearance in the U.S. for the second-gen AcQMap followed last April.
Scottsdale, Az.-based Innovative Health collects, reprocesses and returns single-use labeled EP catheters to hospitals with the intent of reducing atrial fibrillation procedure costs by as much as 30%. The company reprocesses mapping catheters, diagnostic ultrasound catheters and introducer sheaths, among other EP devices.
“Hospitals and health systems are often forced to compromise on innovation in their procedural approaches due to cost constraints,” Acutus CEO Vince Burgess said in prepared remarks. “The giant entrenched multi-national incumbents in the EP business relentlessly increase prices for nominal incremental enhancements in their products, which is not sustainable. Due to a lack of significant innovation, improvements in clinical outcomes in the EP field have stagnated over the last decade or more – yet costs continue to increase. To challenge the incumbents and change the status quo, we feel that we need to bring both disruptive technologies and a disruptive business model to the field. It is highly unconventional for a VC-backed medtech company to embrace reprocessing – but we feel that this is a must, where safe and appropriate.
“We’re joining Acutus in their effort to disrupt the electrophysiology treatment landscape because together, we can create real change,” added Innovative Health CEO Rick Ferreira. “We can bring advanced diagnostics, effective treatments and cost-effective access to hospitals and physicians. Our cost reduction model supports Acutus’ focus on improving outcomes for as many physicians and patients as possible by enabling more patients to receive care with the best technology.”