UPDATED: HeartWare Ends $929M Acquisition of Israeli Company

Originally posted on January 28. Updated for Friday’s Patch newsletter.

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HeartWare International, a Framingham-based company that produces miniaturized circulatory support technologies for the treatment of advanced heart failure, announced Thursday, Jan. 28 it will not move forward with a proposed $929 million acquisition of Valtech Cardio, Ltd..

The privately held Valtech Cardio, based in Israel, is a developer of mitral and tricuspid valve repair and replacement technologies.

“HeartWare’s decision last fall to acquire Valtech represented a unique opportunity to bring together two, complementary portfolios for substantial, high-growth markets and create a broad technology pipeline for the treatment of patients with heart failure,” said Doug Godshall, President and Chief Executive Officer of HeartWare, in a statement. “While we continue to believeValtech’s portfolio of mitral and tricuspid interventional tools holds tremendous promise, HeartWare finds itself in a different set of circumstances than when we first entered into the agreement.”

“Our focus in the coming months will be on returning the MVAD® System to the clinic, further enhancing the HVAD® System, particularly in light of our plan to submit for the Destination Therapy indication for HVAD in the middle of this year, and progressing our innovative circulatory support pipeline,” added Godshall. “By stepping away from the acquisition, all of our resources will be dedicated to strengthening our existing business to put the company in the best position to take advantage of the significant opportunities within our ventricular assist device (VAD) portfolio. We recognize from our discussions with shareholders over the past several weeks that they, too, share our enthusiasm for the strength of our core VAD franchise, and we look forward to realizing this value together.”

“This decision does not, in any way, reflect a lack of enthusiasm for Valtech or the mitral and tricuspid valve opportunities, and we wish Valtech all the best in advancing their company to the next level,” concluded Godshall.

Pursuant to the terms of the agreement, HeartWare will make a $30 million loan to Valtech in the form of a convertible promissory note.

HeartWare International develops and manufactures miniaturized implantable heart pumps, or ventricular assist devices, to treat patients suffering from advanced heart failure.

The HeartWare® Ventricular Assist System features the HVAD® pump, a small full-support circulatory assist device designed to be implanted next to the heart, avoiding the abdominal surgery generally required to implant competing devices.

The HeartWare System is approved in the United States for the intended use as a bridge to cardiac transplantation in patients who are at risk of death from refractory end-stage left ventricular heart failure, has received CE Marking in the European Union and has been used to treat patients in 47 countries. The device is also currently the subject of a U.S. clinical trial for destination therapy.