Israel Healthcare & Medical Device Industry

Medtronic acquires heart valve startup Ventor Technologies for $325 million February 24, 2009

American medical technology firm Medtronic has acquired Israeli startup Ventor Technologies, a developer of transcatheter heart valve technologies for the treatment of aortic valve disease, for $325 million.

Ventor developed a unique aortic valve prosthesis which can be implanted “off pump”, on a beating heart. Ventor’s unique valve design allows for easy implantation, enhanced prosthesis anchoring and superior hemodynamic performance.

Current standard of care for patients with aortic stenosis is open-heart valve surgery, however, many patients are ineligible for surgery because of their deteriorating health. Transcatheter valves offer a non-surgical alternative for patients who need their valve replaced but may not be good surgical candidates.

This deal will add two technologies to Medtronic’s transcatheter valve portfolio: a minimally invasive, surgical transapical technology and a next generation percutaneous, transfemoral technology. These complementary technologies offer compelling clinical benefit to distinctly different subsets of patients with aortic stenosis who are at high or prohibitive risk for surgery.

“The combination of Ventor Technologies and our strengths in research and development, operations, medical education and market development will improve patient outcomes and expand physician adoption among both surgeons and interventional cardiologists,” said Bill Hawkins, chairman and CEO of Medtronic.

Ventor was founded in 2004 by Dr. Ehud Shvemental of Sheba Medical Center Tel Hashomer, Rafi Benary, and Dr. Shimon Eckhouse, the co-founder of Syneron Medical. Guy Ezekiel is the current president and CEO of Ventor Technologies.

Medtronic is the global leader in medical technology with six major businesses focusing around a condition or therapy type: Cardiac Rhythm Disease Management, Spinal and Biologics, CardioVascular, Neuromodulation, Diabetes, and Surgical Technologies.

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