Edwards Lifesciences Corp. has taken another step into the market for catheter-based heart valve surgery.
The Irvine heart valve maker recently paid $15 million for technology and patents related to the percutaneous mitral valve repair program of Ev3 Inc. of Plymouth, Minn.
Ev3, a privately held maker of endovascular devices, acquired most of its percutaneous mitral valve products from MitraLife Inc. of Santa Rosa two years ago.
Late last year, Edwards paid $125 million to buy Percutaneous Valve Technologies Inc. of Fort Lee, N.J. Percutaneous was seen as an up-and-comer in the market for less-invasive heart surgery.
In early 2003, Edwards paid $20 million for a heart valve repair program from Jomed NV, a troubled medical device maker from the Netherlands.
Analysts and industry figures have estimated the market for heart valves that don’t require major surgery could reach $1 billion within 10 years.
The moves are strategic for Edwards. The company holds the largest share of the conventional heart valve market at about a third. Analysts believe less-invasive heart valves could take away sales from Edwards’ core market in the next few years.
According to the company, less-invasive mitral valve repair has the potential to improve the quality of life for patients who suffer from mitral valve regurgitation, a condition where the valve’s leaflets fail to close properly.
Edwards isn’t the only OC device maker that’s dabbling in the percutaneous valve market.
3F Therapeutics Inc., based in Lake Forest, is developing a tissue valve based on a tubular valve concept.
3F, which received $14.2 million in venture funding led by Boston Scientific Corp. about a year ago, says its products lend themselves to minimally invasive, catheter-based surgical implantation.
And CoreValve SA, which is based in France with an operation in Irvine, is developing a catheter with an expanding stent tube for putting a replacement valve into a patient’s beating heart.
In Other Heart Device News
Three heart device makers, including two with regional operations, could get a boost from a proposed decision to expand Medicare coverage for pricey but potentially lifesaving implanted heart devices.
Makers of implantable cardioverter defibrillators include: Medtronic Inc., the Minneapolis-based device maker with 470 workers in its Santa Ana heart valve plant; St. Jude Medical Inc., also based in Minneapolis; and Indianapolis-based Guidant Corp., which has a plant in Temecula.
The defibrillators are small, stopwatch-sized devices implanted under the skin near the collarbone. They deliver small electric shocks to the heart to stop abnormally fast heartbeats.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services introduced a plan late last month that would widen Medicare coverage of implantable defibrillators by a third, making nearly 500,000 Americans eligible for the devices.
They cost about $25,000 each.
Medicare made its decision after a study funded by Medtronic showed that the devices saved lives in a broad group of patients with heart disease.
Currently, Medicare only covers the costs of the devices for about 300,000 people. Analysts said the decision could boost the market by 20% to 25% in 2005 and 2006.
Cameron Health Inc., a San Clemente device maker that is partly owned by Boston Scientific, also is developing an implantable cardioverter defibrillator.
FHP Exec Returns
In other Medicare news, Bruce Merlin Fried, a healthcare attorney and partner with Sonnenschein, Nath & Rosenthal LLP’s Washington, D.C., office, plans to discuss “Medicare’s Challenges: Federal Deficits, The Chronically Ill and an Uncharted Future,” at a Nov. 5 presentation sponsored by the Health Care Center for Management and Policy at the University of California, Irvine’s Graduate School of Management.
Fried’s background includes serving as vice president of federal affairs at FHP International Corp., which is now part of PacifiCare Health Systems Inc., Cypress, and once was one of the country’s largest managed care companies.
Fried, after leaving FHP, served as the federal Health Care Financing Administration’s director of the Center for Health Plans and Providers, responsible for policy and operations for the Medicare program.
Bits and Pieces:
Secure Horizons, PacifiCare’s Medicare HMO, expanded its Medicare plus Choice program into Boulder County, Colo. PacifiCare has more than 52,000 Medicare members in Colorado; Boulder County has around 32,000 Medicare-eligible people. Secure Horizons has been in Medicare since 1985 and counts some 700,000 members in California and seven other Western states Michael Sturm, a consulting actuary with Seattle’s Milliman USA Inc., discusses “Consumer Driven Health Care: How Can I Offer These Plans?” at the Oct. 28 meeting of the Orange County Employee Benefit Council, which is set for 7:30 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. at the Beckman Center, 100 Academy, Irvine. Information: (714) 573-8605.
