LivaNova (NSDQ:LIVN) said today that it is ending its Caisson Interventional transcatheter mitral valve replacement (TMVR) program and plans to restructure its heart valve business to improve profitability.
The company’s heart valve business represented nearly $130 million in revenue during fiscal 2018 and saw its revenue numbers decline over the last five years, both with biological and mechanical valves, leading to a decision to begin restructuring, according to a news release.
In May 2017, LivaNova bought out Caisson Interventional in a deal worth $72 million, having previously owned 49% stake in the company. Now, Caisson TMVR operations in Minneapolis are slated to close at the end of 2019. Patients participating in clinical trials related to TMVR will continue to be followed within the parameters of the trial.
TMVR has become a hot area in the medical device space, but one with increasingly feverish competition.
The company expects its restructuring plan to affect approximately 150 employees across its sites in Minneapolis, Vancouver, Canada, and Saluggia, Italy.
LivaNova said its Saluggia-based facility will shift focus to research and development and production of mechanical heart valves, rings, accessories and Nitinol stents, while tissue heart valve production will be done at the company’s Vancouver location.
“The time has come to address the continued declines we have experienced in our heart valve business,” LivaNova CEO Damien McDonald said in the release. “We will restructure and simplify our heart valve manufacturing network, which will eliminate operational overlap between facilities and enable us to address new regulatory requirements. As we evaluated these changes along with those in the structural heart market, we determined it was no longer viable to continue to invest in our TMVR program. As a result, we will close our Caisson TMVR operations.”