Say hello to MassDevice +3, a bite-sized view of the top three medtech stories of the day. This feature of MassDevice.com’s coverage highlights our 3 biggest and most influential stories from the day’s news to make sure you’re up to date on the headlines that continue to shape the medical device industry.

 

3. TAVI: Transcatheter Technologies lands 2nd Series B tranche

Transcatheter Technologies GmbH said it raised the 2nd tranche in its Series B round for its 3rd-generation replacement heart valve.

The tranche takes the German transcatheter aortic heart implant developer’s total raise to nearly $7.2 million, a spokesman told MassDevice.com this morning. Read more

2. St. Jude Medical closes $455M CardioMEMS buy

St. Jude Medical wasted no time in closing its acquisition of CardioMEMS, days after the FDA approved the Champion HF implantable heart monitor, saying it plans to begin a “strategic” launch of the device in the U.S.

“St. Jude Medical’s acquisition of CardioMEMS shows our commitment to providing innovative medical device solutions that reduce the burden of complex diseases like heart failure, both on patients and health care systems. The CardioMEMS HF System achieves this goal by setting a new treatment paradigm for heart failure that reduces hospitalizations and improves the quality of life for patients,” chairman, president & CEO Daniel Starks said in prepared remarks. Read more

1. Humana levels racketeering lawsuit against Medtronic over Infuse bone graft

Health insurer Humana leveled a racketeering lawsuit against Medtronic last week, accusing the medical device company of rigging the presentation of data on its controversial Infuse bone graft product and of pushing its use in off-label procedures.

The lawsuit, citing the Racketeer Influenced & Corrupt Organizations statute known as RICO, alleges that Medtronic ran a deliberate campaign to fudge the data on Infuse to conceal adverse events and induce insurers such as Humana to cover Infuse procedures. Read more