Medtronic Announces Purchase Of Novel Connective Technologies From Coalescent Surgical

Continuing its effort to help surgeons improve outcomes for patients undergoing bypass and other surgical procedures, Medtronic, Inc. (NYSE:MDT) today announced that it has acquired the assets of Coalescent Surgical, an innovative developer of proprietary technologies designed to connect vessels safely without sutures. Financial terms of the purchase were not disclosed.

"Medtronic is excited to add the unique technologies of Coalescent Surgical to its surgical product line," said Bob Guezuraga, president of Medtronic Cardiac Surgery. "This unique technology creates excellent synergy with our strategy to develop technologies enabling surgical procedures that produce better outcomes for patients while reducing trauma and hospitalization."

Since the inception of coronary bypass surgery more than 50 years ago, cardiac surgeons have painstakingly placed tiny stitches of suture material to connect the end of the bypass graft to the coronary arteries until the body healed and bonded them together. One of the most challenging aspects of the bypass procedure is the anastomosis, the linkages between bypass grafts and other blood vessels. The quality of this connection is critical to the long-term success of the bypass procedure.

Coalescent Surgical's U-CLIP(R) Anastomotic Device enables heart surgeons to create high-quality anastomoses without tying knots or managing sutures. The U-CLIP device's primary use is in coronary artery bypass surgery, while ongoing development will adapt this technology for use in other cardiac, peripheral vascular, transplant, general and plastic surgery procedures.

In addition to the U-CLIP device, Medtronic will also add the SPYDER(TM) Proximal Anastomotic Device, designed to enable the surgeon to automatically deploy a series of U-Clip devices when attaching the bypass graft to the aorta. The SPYDER device is intended to address the surgeon's desire to reduce or eliminate embolic complications associated with clamping the aorta, the heart's largest artery. Small pieces of plaque, which can dislodge during clamping techniques, have been shown to stray from the aorta and occasionally lodge in the vessels leading into the brain. This can lead to neurological complications, including transient ischemic attacks (TIAs) or even stroke.

The U-CLIP device is made of a unique shape-memory metal called nitinol, which quickly returns to an original configuration after being flexed. It is available in multiple sizes and lengths to facilitate the surgeon's choice of surgical technique, and has been used in more than 300,000 anastomoses since its introduction in 2000.