Shockwave Medical is looking at an acquisition to help it further disrupt the cardiovascular treatment space.

The Santa Clara, CA-based company said on Tuesday that it has signed an agreement to acquire Neovasc for about $100 million with deferred payments of up to approximately $47 million on the achievement of future regulatory milestones. The deal is expected to be completed in the first half of this year.

The Richmond, Canada-based Neovasc is developing the Reducer, a technology designed to reduce angina symptoms in patients with refractory angina. Neovasc enrolled the first patient in a pivotal trial of the Reducer a little more than a year ago.

Shockwave Medical’s President & Chief Commercial Officer, Issac Zacharias spoke about why Neovasc was a good fit.

“We’ve been looking a while for a disruptive technology within the cardiology space where Shockwave can draw upon its learnings from introducing IVL and be on the leading clinical edge by introducing another truly transformational technology,” Zacharias told MD+DI via email. “There are many similarities where Neovasc is today, and Shockwave was a few years ago. [Neovasc has] a unique, first-of-its-kind technology for a large patient population (refractory angina) with no ideal treatment options currently available.”

Neovasc began intense focus on the Reducer after it put its Tiara transfemoral mitral valve replacement program on hold in June of 2021.  Currently, the Reducer has CE mark and was awarded breakthrough device designation by FDA.

The technology is being investigated in the COSIRA II IDE study, a sham-controlled double-blind randomized trial to evaluate the Reducer System for safety and effectiveness in patients with refractory angina due to obstructive coronary disease that is not amenable to conventional revascularization. Informed by the COSIRA trial, COSIRA II was developed to support approval and will provide the interventional community with scientifically rigorous, high-quality Level I evidence to support the appropriate use of the Reducer System.

Zacharias said the technology “also looks to play a promising role in the future angina with no obstructive coronary arteries (ANOCA) patient population, which will likely require additional clinical trials and a new indication.”

The M&A season is already picking up steam in 2023 as 2022 saw a lot of spin-offs and divestitures and a decline in deals.  Zimmer Biomet and GE Healthcare have made separate acquisitions in the medtech space this month.  

Shockwave adds yet another entry into the rise in M&A and the company probably won’t stop there.

Zacharias said, “While this is Shockwave’s first acquisition, we don’t expect it will be our last – we will continue to evaluate the market for disruptive opportunities, assessing prospects that we believe we can execute to drive value for patients, physicians, and shareholders, whether that be in 2023 or in the coming years.”