Boston Scientific (NYSE:BSX) exercised its option to acquire Cameron Health Inc., maker of the world’s only commercially available lead-less implantable cardioverter defibrillator which boasts the tag-line "Protection…without touching the heart."
Boston Scientific agreed to pay $150 million up-front, with another $150 million to be paid upon FDA approval for the device and up to $1.05 billion in potential payments on achievement of revenue-based milestones over a 6-year period, according to a press release.
The S-ICD system, unlike traditional ICDs, sits just beneath the skin and does not rely on wires relayed through blood vessels and connected to the heart in order to provide heart rhythm therapy.
The device is not yet available in the U.S., but Cameron Health filed for FDA pre-market approval in December 2011 and Boston Scientific anticipates regulatory approval in the first half of 2013, according to a press release.
Cameron Heath, who in September 2010 elected 33-year Medtronic veteran Warren Watson to chair of its board of directors, completed enrollment in May 2011 for a clinical study aimed at winning FDA approval.
The device has CE Mark approval in the European Union and has been on the market in several European countries since 2009. It has been implanted in about 1,000 patients worldwide, according to a press release.
"The S-ICD system represents a new category of rhythm management devices that is unlike anything available today," Dr. Kenneth Ellenbogen, professor of medicine and director of the electrophysiology lab at the Medical College of Virginia, said in prepared remarks. "This system provides physicians with a new alternative in the treatment of patients at risk for sudden cardiac arrest and should become first-line therapy for patients who may benefit from not having a lead in the heart."
BoSci expects the acquisition to close in the 2nd or 3rd quarter of 2012, according to the release.
BSX jumped 3.5 percent on Wall Street today, trading at $5.93 around 5:45 p.m.
