How Boston Sci Is Taking Its Cardio Business Wireless

The company is becoming the exclusive seller of Preventice's cardiology diagnostic and monitoring device.

Nancy Crotti

Boston Scientific has bought a 27% stake in wireless heart-monitoring device maker Preventice Solutions (Houston, TX), the company announced this week.

The investment allows the Marlborough, MA-based medtech giant to become the exclusive worldwide sales and marketing representative for Preventice's cardiology diagnostic and monitoring products.

Boston Sci did not disclose the amount of the investment.

The new relationship will give Boston Scientific access to the billion-dollar market for cardiac monitoring products. The company will also get a seat at the table with the Merck Global Health Innovation Fund, the majority stockholder in Preventice.

Preventice makes wearable cardiac monitors, including Holter monitors, cardiac event monitors and mobile cardiac telemetry. These technologies come with monitoring services including data transmission, surveillance, reporting, interpretation, and integration into a healthcare provider's workflow.

Its BodyGuardian heart-monitoring patch, worn on the chest, delivers information to a dedicated Samsung smart phone that conveys it to the patient's physician.

This is the second deal in less than a year to boost Preventice's market penetration. In September 2014, the company merged with eCardio Diagnostics, moving its headquarters from Minnesota to Texas, and gained a national sales staff in the process.

The move could also help Boston Sci's cardiac rhythm business, which grew by a slender 2% in the first half of 2015 to $959 million.

"This collaboration with Preventice Solutions, which has an infrastructure optimized to monitor hundreds of thousands of patients each year, is a critical step in our effort to improve patient outcomes and reduce healthcare costs," said Joe Fitzgerald, president of rhythm management for Boston Scientific, in the company's statement.

Nancy Crotti is a contributor to Qmed and MPMN.

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