With sales of its minimally invasive heart valve growing in Europe and an expected launch of the product coming in the United States, Boston Scientific is now shoring up the resources behind its Lotus Valve System with a deal to acquire a piece of a key supplier that makes parts for the device.
Marlborough, MA-based Boston Scientific (NYSE: [[ticker:BSX]]) has agreed to pay $75 million for some of the manufacturing assets and capabilities of Neovasc (NASDAQ: [[ticker:NVCN]]), as well as a 15 percent equity stake in the company. Neovasc, based in Vancouver, BC, makes products for the cardiovascular market, including components for transcatheter heart valves such as Boston Scientific’s Lotus Valve System.
When the deal closes by the end of the year, Boston Scientific says the Neovasc assets will become part of its structural heart business, which makes the Lotus valve and other valve products.
Boston Scientific developed Lotus for transcatheter aortic valve replacement, a minimally invasive surgical procedure that repairs an old, damaged aortic valve. The procedure treats aortic stenosis, a narrowing of the aortic valve opening, and is conducted on patients who are at high risk of complications if they have standard valve replacement surgery, according to the American Heart Association. Transcatheter aortic valve replacement uses a catheter to deliver the new aortic valve. Once in place, the replacement valve takes over the work of regulating blood flow.
Lotus received regulatory approval in Europe in 2013. A newer version of the device, Lotus Edge, secured the regulatory nod in Europe in September. Neither of those devices is yet available in the United States. Boston Scientific says it expects to launch Lotus in the United States in late 2017.
If approved by the FDA, the Boston Scientific heart valve could compete against similar products in development from Santa Rosa, CA-based Direct Flow Medical, and St. Paul, MN-based St. Jude Medical (NYSE: [[ticker:STJ]]), among others.
