The acquisition of Affera enables Medtronic to expand its portfolio of advanced cardiac ablation products and accessories
Medtronic operational headquarters in Fridley, Minnesota, US. (Credit: Group29 at English Wikipedia)
Healthcare technology company Medtronic has agreed to acquire US-based medical technology company Affera for an undisclosed sum.
Based in Boston area, Affera is engaged in the development of a comprehensive integrated platform to deliver durable therapy for a range of cardiac arrhythmia patients.
The company designs and produces cardiac mapping and navigation systems and catheter-based cardiac ablation technologies, including a differentiated and focal pulsed field ablation solution, to treat patients with cardiac arrhythmias such as atrial fibrillation (AF).
Via its minority investment portfolio, Medtronic is a strategic investor in Affera with a 3% ownership interest in the company.
The acquisition of Affera enables Medtronic to expand its portfolio of advanced cardiac ablation products and accessories to help physicians meet their requirements for increasing patient population.
Affera’s technologies consist of Affera Prism-1 cardiac mapping and navigation platform and Sphere-9 cardiac ablation catheter.
The investigational technologies are developed to facilitate the rapid creation of detailed maps used by electrophysiologists (EP) to diagnose arrhythmias and provide cardiac ablation therapy.
The Affera full-suite of solutions and technologies are said to complement the existing Medtronic atrial and ventricular arrhythmia disease management portfolio.
Medtronic cardiovascular portfolio’s cardiac ablation solutions (CAS) business president Rebecca Seidel said: “The EP ablation market is an exciting and fast-moving segment of cardiology.
“Bringing Affera into our organization, with our established footprint in the cardiac ablation space, will strengthen our ability to provide innovative therapies and enable Medtronic entry into additional EP technology segments, such as mapping and navigation, for the first time.”
Last December, Affera started an investigational device exemption (IDE) pivotal randomised trial, approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), to assess the safety and efficacy of the Affera system to treat persistent AF.
Affera’s product portfolio is not yet approved for sale or commercial use, said Medtronic.
Subject to the satisfaction to certain customary closing conditions, the deal is expected to be completed in the first half of Medtronic fiscal year 2023.