The intense competition for the best treatment of runaway hypertension looks like it’s about to heat up. Word is that Massachusetts-based Covidien, which has been on a buying spree, is going to acquire early stage California medical technology company Maya Medical.
Renal denervation is the potential solution for the 12 million people who can’t control their high blood pressure despite using an array of drugs. The treatment uses a catheter to widen the areas around the nerves that line renal arteries. The Cleveland Clinic called renal denervation the No. 1 healthcare innovation of 2012.
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A Covidien spokesman wouldn’t comment on what he described as “market rumors and speculation,” but conceded that the company is in “partnership with Maya on a new technology.” The spokesman, Bruce Farmer, went on to add that Covidien makes strategic investments from time to time and “is a recognized market leader in RF ablation technology, with numerous products in both its vascular and surgical portfolios. …”
RF ablation is what Maya Medical’s solution is all about.
In about two weeks, Covidien is sponsoring a panel at the EuroPCR conference in Paris that will highlight Maya Medical’s OneShot technology. In a separate panel, Maya Medical’s s own chief medical officer, Michel Accad, will talk about OneShot as the “next generation balloon-based, radio frequency renal denervation system.”
A call to Maya Medical wasn’t immediately returned. The company is currently conducting a phase 2 clinical study in Belgium and The Netherlands, although the medical centers are not recruiting patients yet.
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While Covidien is sponsoring Maya Medical’s OneShot panel, Medtronic and St. Jude Medical are sponsoring renal denervation panels that highlight technologies they actually own.
A source in the renal denervation industry with knowledge of the deal between Covidien and Maya Medical said that device firms do not sponsor panels unless they own the technology being discussed or have an interest in it.
Covidien’s interest in Maya Medical’s renal denervation technology is understandable. An analyst who covers Covidien said that early clinical data on renal denervation is very promising and that the market is large.
“It’s in the billions of dollars and there is a huge need,” said Michael Matson, an equity analyst with Mizuho Securities USA.
He added that Covidien typically buys companies in new growth platforms with acquisitions at around $500 million or less. The company has bought four companies in 2012 that fit this description. One exception is ev3, which Covidien bought for more than $2.5 billion in 2010.
The Maya Medical deal, if and when it happens, will bring Covidien into competition with Medtronic and St. Jude Medical. Medtronic is the leader in the renal denervation field with its prescient acquisition of Ardian for $800 million in late 2010. While the system works, it is hard to manipulate, said analyst Debbie Wang of Morningstar. She said that Medtronic will have to buy another renal denervation firm developing the next generation of these devices to remain ahead. Medtronic’s Symplicity renal denervation system is approved in Europe and the company is currently enrolling patients in a U.S. clinical trial that will be used for wining regulatory approval here.
St. Jude Medical is also developing a renal denervation system and expects to get the CE Mark by the end of the year.
And there are a whole host of small, private companies that are also developing solutions — ReCor Medical, SeptRX and Apex Nano Therapeutics, all of whom will be discussing their technologies at the upcoming EuroPCR conference in mid May. Vessix Vascular just received a CE mark for its renal denervation system.
[Image from flickr user BostonTX]