Medtronic completes Ardian acquisition

Medtronic (NYSE: MDT) has completed the purchase of California-based Ardian, a developer of catheter-based therapies for hypertension treatment.

Medtronic paid $800 million in cash as announced in a previous agreement and will provide additional performance-based milestone payments through Medtronic’s fiscal year 2015. Before the acquisition, Medtronic held an 11.2 percent ownership stake.

Ardian is developing a catheter system that uses radio-frequency energy to ’deactivate’ sympathetic nerves in the kidneys, lowering blood pressure. Clinical trials are in progress, but FDA approval is “far too early to speculate on,” said a company spokesperson. The Symplicity Catheter System device will be handled by Medtronic’s Coronary and Peripheral Business group based in Santa Rosa, 100 miles north of Ardian. If successful, the therapy may also one day play a role in treating heart failure, insulin resistance and chronic kidney disease, diseases also characterized by a hyperactive sympathetic drive.

Ardian’s technology was created by Minnesota entrepreneurs, funded by a Minnesota venture capital firm, and tested by a Minnesota hospital, but the company set up shop in 2003 in Mountain View, California, with the help of medical device incubator The Foundry.

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