Galway medtech Vetex Medical acquired in deal worth up to $47m

7 Jul 2021

Image: © kongsky/Stock.adobe.com

Minnesota medtech provider Surmodics adds Vetex Medical’s ReVene device to its portfolio of products tackling the removal of blood clots.

Vetex Medical has been acquired by US company Surmodics through an up-front payment of $39.9m.

Under the terms of the agreement, additional payments of up to $7m (half of which are guaranteed) may be made subject to product development and regulatory milestones being met.

With this deal, Surmodics adds a second medical device cleared by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to its thrombectomy portfolio.

‘The ease of use, intuitive design and efficient performance of this device enables it to become the first-line treatment’
– DR STEPHEN BLACK

In 2019, Galway medtech Vetex Medical secured funding from the European Innovation Council to support the development of an early-stage medical device designed for drug-free treatment of deep vein thrombosis.

The company’s first product engineered for the treatment of venous disease is the ReVene thrombectomy catheter. This device is specifically designed to remove large blood clots in a single session using efficient dual-action technology.

As well as receiving clearance from the FDA, ReVene recently secured a CE mark, affirming its compliance with European health, safety and environmental protection standards.

Future development

Headquartered in Minnesota, medical device provider Surmodics is pursuing highly differentiated medical devices designed to address unmet clinical needs.

“This acquisition demonstrates our commitment to the expansion of our thrombectomy platform,” said president and CEO Gary Maharaj.

Maharaj described ReVene as “exciting technology that offers significant improvements over current therapies” and said that the “synergies” between Vetex and Surmodics will accelerate the acquiring company’s future treatment for pulmonary embolism.

Earlier this year, Vetex presented follow-up data from patients participating in a feasibility trial of ReVene and found that all primary endpoints were met with no safety issues.

Principal investigator Dr Stephen Black, consultant surgeon at Guy’s and St Thomas’s NHS Foundation Trust in London, said the ReVene device’s ability to complete the procedure in a single session has the potential to significantly expand access to treatment.

“The ease of use, intuitive design and efficient performance of this device enables it to become the first-line treatment and a confident choice by venous interventionalists,” said Black.

Surmodics expects to initiate clinical evaluation of its own device for removing clots from peripheral arteries in the second half of its fiscal year 2021, and for the ReVene’s removal of clots from veins in fiscal 2022.

A projected timeline for further commercialisation of these devices is expected later in the company’s fiscal year. Updated guidance and an assessment on the impact of the Vetex acquisition will come with NASDAQ-listed Surmodics’ third-quarter earnings announcement.

Elaine Burke is the host of For Tech’s Sake, a co-production from Silicon Republic and The HeadStuff Podcast Network. She was previously the editor of Silicon Republic.

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