Transcatheter Technologies said today that it agreed to an acquisition by Chinese replacement heart valve maker Venus Medtech for an undisclosed amount.
Regensburg, Germany-based Transcatheter Technologies makes the Trinity transcatheter aortic valve replacement, which it touts as the only TAVR device that’s “truly” repositionable, even after full implantation. Trinity is also designed to minimize or eliminate the paravalvular leakage that’s plagued early TAVR devices, the company has said.
Venus Medtech, which is based in Hangzhou, plans to use Transcatheter Technologies portfolio as the basis for the next generation of its TAVR device. The Venus A-Valve is through the clinical trial phase and awaiting approval by the China Food & Drug Administration. A transcatheter pulmonary valve replacement is in trials; together, Transcatheter Technologies said, they are expected to be the 1st transcatheter heart valve replacements approved by the People’s Republic.
The deal calls for Transcatheter Technologies co-founders CEO Dr. Wolfgang Goetz and CTO Hou-Sen Lim to consult with Venus for 3 months after the deal’s close, to assist in the transition.
“By acquiring Transcatheter Technologies’ next-generation valve technologies, Venus Medtech will greatly enhance its valve products presence in the global market,” Venus Medtech CEO Eric Zi said in prepared remarks.
“Transcatheter Technologies was founded with the goal of making noninvasive heart valve implantation safer for patients, thereby expanding the number of patients who may benefit from this procedure. Our agreement with Venus Medtech helps us continue this mission and will fuel the continued development of our next-generation technology platform for the treatment of various structural heart diseases in the Chinese market,” Goetz added. “Our 3rd-generation transcatheter aortic valve implantation system – Trinity – is designed to be the world’s first ‘truly repositionable’ TAVI system and has already completed 2 years of follow-up.”
“Certainly, the early clinical results for the Trinity TAVI system have been very impressive,” principal investigator Dr. Christian Hengstenberg, of Munich’s German Heart Center, said in a press release. “Unlike 2nd-generation TAVI systems, the Trinity aortic valve is able to be positioned precisely or repositioned, even after full implantation, in a safe manner. In our study, Trinity’s novel sealing cuff has provided outstanding results without paravalvular leakage (PVL), a frequent complication of TAVI. Equally critical, the risk of atrio-ventricular (AV) block is dramatically reduced due to the supra-annular positioning of the Trinity valve.”
Venus Medtech won a $37 million commitment from Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) last month in a round that included Qiming Venture Partners, Sequoia Capital China, and Dinova Venture Capital.
