Marlborough Company Expands Its Cardiac Device To Japan

MARLBOROUGH, MA—A medical device manufacturer in Marlborough has expanded its partnership with a Japanese company to bring its HeartLight Endoscopic Ablation System to that region. CardioFocus, a company whose focus is to advance ablation treatment for cardiac disorders such as atrial fibrillation (AF), last week announced the partnership with Japan Lifeline Co.

To support Japanese approval, CardioFocus originally established a distribution partnership with JLL in 2014, said the release. Since receiving approval from the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare in July, initial commercial cases have been completed successfully at four hospitals. The companies expect full commercial launch of the HeartLight System to begin in 2018 after national reimbursement is in place.

Under the agreement, the two companies will increase the scope of commercializing the HeartLight System in Asia Pacific markets. According to CardioFocus, the HeartLight System is a visually guided laser balloon technology for controlled and consistent pulmonary vein isolation (PVI) treatment of atrial fibrillation (AF).

"In Japan, physicians are responding very positively to the HeartLight System," said Keisuke Suzuki, president and chief executive officer of Japan Lifeline, in a statement. "We are eager to continue the commercial launch and bring this revolutionary new treatment to more AF patients."

"We greatly value this partnership with JLL and the momentum it has created for the HeartLight System in Japan and look forward to offering it in additional Asia Pacific markets," Paul A. LaViolette, executive chairman of CardioFocus, said in a statement. "This expanded agreement will help CardioFocus achieve its long-term goals as a company committed to leading in the field of PVI."

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