Zoll Medical was today revealed as the mystery suitor behind a 35 million bid for Kyma Medical Technologies, a developer of remote cardiac monitoring devices, according to a regulatory filing by Elron Electronic Industries (TASE:ELRN), which owns a stake in Kyma.
Elron 1st announced the deal last June but did not name the potential acquirer. The deal includes potential earnouts worth an unspecified amount, according to the filing, plus a 4½-year earnout schedule for an unspecified series of revenue-based milestones and sales royalties for 5½ years.
“The acquisition of Kyma Medical will allow Zoll to broaden its product offerings with additional technologies designed to improve outcomes for heart failure patients with fluid management problems, with the goal of reducing hospitalizations,” Zoll LifeVest president Jason Whiting said in prepared remarks. “With the acquisition, Kyma’s technology will be able to better reach global markets through Zoll’s existing network. Additionally, we expect to leverage Kyma’s strong R&D capabilities as well as the broader research talent available in Israel.”
“Zoll provides Kyma with an increased infrastructure of clinical and commercial resources that will enable our technology to reach a greater number of clinicians and patients,” added Kyma president & CEO Murali Srivathsa. “This agreement gives Kyma the opportunity to become part of a company with a long and sustained commitment to improving patient outcomes.”
Kfar Saba, Israel-based Kyma is developing a remote patient monitoring device for congestive heart failure patients called the µ-Cor, that’s designed to use microwave radar to monitor the level of fluid in the lungs. The device also collects data on heart rate, breath rate and posture, then transmits it to a Kyma service center, where it’s analyzed “by experienced and trained professionals using sophisticated algorithms to determine patient-specific trends,” according to Kyma’s website.
“Once a potential deterioration in the patient’s condition is identified, a notification is sent to the medical team,” according to Kyma.
Kyma said in January that µ-Cor won CE Mark approval in the European Union for monitoring thoracic fluid content, ECG, heart rate, respiratory rate, activity and body posture. The company is also working on an implantable, subcutaneous version of the device, according to founder and ex-CEO Assaf Bernstein’s LinkedIn page.
Srivathsa has a long medical device pedigree dating back to 1999, according to his LinkedIn page, when he joined Guidant. Srivathsa worked at Guidant until its 2006 acquisition by Boston Scientific (NYSE:BSX), then stayed on there until 2008, when he jumped ship to become vice president of sales, marketing & customer operations at wearable sensor maker Corventis. Medtronic (NYSE:MDT) acquired Corventis for a reported $150 million last year.
