Medtronic to acquire PercuSurge for $225 million

In a move that will further enhance its interventional vascular product offerings, Medtronic Inc. (Minneapolis) today announced that it will acquire Sunnyvale, CA-based PercuSurge Inc.

The merger agreement calls for an exchange of stock valued at approximately $225 million. Further financial details were not disclosed.

PercuSurge will join the Medtronic Vascular organization, which is headquartered in Santa Rosa, CA.

"We are excited to be joined by this innovative company, whose embolic protection device is the 'best in class' solution for reducing clinical complications associated with embolic debris released during interventional procedures," said Andy Rasdal, president of Medtronic Vascular.

"We believe that our technology and excellent clinical results, combined with Medtronic AVE's worldwide operational and field infrastructure will result in an extremely rapid adoption of our technology to treat the nearly 200,000 diseased saphenous vein bypass grafts that could be treated each year," said Peter Rule, president, CEO and chairman of PercuSurge.

The PercuSurge GuardWire Plus Temporary Occlusion and Aspiration system is designed to allow cardiologists and other interventional specialists to capture embolic debris that might otherwise block downstream vessels and branches during interventional procedures and damage the heart. It consists of a balloon-tipped guidewire, which is inflated briefly to occlude blood flow and capture any material dislodged from the wall of the vessel during placement of a stent upstream. Captured material is then withdrawn by using the PercuSurge Export aspiration catheter before the balloon of the GuardWire Plus is deflated and blood flow restored.

The device has been used in over 5,000 procedures since its release in Europe during 1999 and was the first distal protection product to be commercialized there. The product's first targeted indication is for the treatment of degenerated saphenous vein grafts that show signs of disease following heart bypass surgery.

The GuardWire Plus is an investigational device in the United States, and clinical trials are already underway.

Edited by Ursula Jones
Managing Editor, Medical Design Online