Chris Newmarker

October 8, 2015

2 Min Read
St. Jude Closes on $3B Thoratec Buy

The deal helps round out St. Jude's menu of heart failure devices and services.

HeartMate II

HeartMate II, as shown on Thoratec's website

Chris Newmarker

St. Jude Medical has closed on its acquistion of major LVAS maker Thoratec, St. Jude said Thursday.

The deal came in at $3.3 billion, about  $100 million less than the initial purchase price announced in July.

The merger allows St. Jude Medical to offer a whole cafeteria of heart failure device options.

"St. Jude Medical is excited to bring together two companies that are considered heart failure therapy leaders and build on our established franchise that is now uniquely positioned to offer physicians and patients innovative solutions across the heart failure continuum," incoming St. Jude Medical CEO Michael T. Rousseau said in a news release. 

St. Jude already has its quadripolar cardiac resynchronization therapy and remote monitoring capabilities. The CardioMEMS device, which St. Jude spent $375 million to acquire amid its FDA approval last year, is about the size of a paper clip and uses MEMS technology originally designed to monitor jet engines to remotely monitor a heart failure patient's pulmonary artery pressure.

Thoratec's HeartMate II, meanwhile, is one of the most  widely used and extensively studied left ventricular assist device in the world. The company earlier this year received FDA approval to enlarge its pivotal trial for its much-anticipated, next-generation HeartMate III.

Not everything is perfect, though. FDA officials still think the benefits of LVADs outweigh the risks when it comes to saving the lives of people with  advanced left ventricular heart failure. But FDA also wants health care providers and their patients to be aware of the risks when considering use of the devices.

Chris Newmarker is senior editor of Qmed and MPMN. Follow him on Twitter at @newmarker.

Like what you're reading? Subscribe to our daily e-newsletter.

Sign up for the QMED & MD+DI Daily newsletter.

You May Also Like