Medtronic to fund bio-pharm clinical trial for heart failure

Fridley, Minn.-based medical device giant Medtronic Inc. will fund and provide expertise for a peptide being developed by San Mateo, Calif.-based bio-pharm firm Nile Therapeutics Inc.

Medtronic Inc. (NYSE:MDT) will fund a clinical trial for Nile Therapeutics Inc. (NSDQ:NLTX) behind a peptide treatment for heart failure.

The San Mateo, Calif. biopharmaceutical company said Medtronic will also provide expertise on building a drug-device combination as Nile completes a Phase I trial to “assess the pharmacokinetics and phamacodynamics of cenderitide delivered through Medtronic diabetes pump technology,” according to a prepared release.

After the study Nile will conduct a double-blind, placebo-controlled dose ranging study in patients admitted to the hospital for acute heart failure. That Phase II study will look at several endpoints, including renal function, cardiac remodeling and mortality after 90-days of continuous subcutaneous pump therapy.

Other terms of the deal were not announced, but Medtronic has made a practice of placing side bets on emerging technologies. Last January, it pumped $15 million into Lexington, Mass.-based GI Dynamics and its gastric sleeve for weight loss and has about $300 million spread around in emerging technologies, according to CEO Bill Hawkins.

Hawkins told MassDevice last fall that Fridley, Minn.-based Medtronic is always looking for new technologies it may have a strategic interest in.

“We survey the landscape continuously to see who’s doing what, whether it’s in obesity or sleep apnea, hypertension– areas that fit into this product/disease mantra,” he told us. “We’re very creative in terms of how we structure these deals in some cases its straight equity, convertible notes, in some cases debt financing. There’s no cookie cutter method for how we do a deal with a company.”