Background
Company: Valtech Ltd.
Who is Valtech?
Co-founded in 2005 by CEO Amir Gross and Peregrine Ventures, Valtech Cardio, Ltd. specializes in the development of technologically advanced, clinically proven devices for mitral and tricuspid valve repair and replacement, and thus offering physicians and their patients safer and more effective alternatives to current valvular treatments. Valtech has full in-house development, manufacturing and clinical research capabilities, as well as over 150 patents and patent applications. Valtech is headquartered with R&D facility in Or Yehuda, Israel.
The Role of the Israel Innovation Authority
With financing and entrepreneurial guidance from the Israeli Innovation Authority’s Incubator Incentive Program, Valtech secured investment partnerships from OXO Capital Valve Ventures, NGN Capital, in addition to Peregrine Ventures, Israel’s leading venture capital fund, which invests in promising early stage high-tech companies with a strong emphasis on Life Sciences, Digital Health and Information Technology.
Successful Innovation
The Challenge
MR (Mitral regurgitation) is a condition in which the leaflets of the mitral valve – between the left atrium and the left ventricle of the heart – fail to close properly, allowing backflow of blood from the left ventricle into the left atrium during the contraction of the heart’s valves in its normal course of activity. A related condition, TR involves the leakage of blood backwards through the tricuspid valve each time the right ventricle contracts. MR is one of the most common valve pathologies in the world with approximately 6 million patients affected by MR or TR in the US alone; many patients often suffer from both conditions simultaneously. Left untreated, severe MR can eventually lead to conditions such as heart murmur, cardiac deterioration, and eventually death.
The Innovation
Valtech ‘s Cardioband System enables transcatheter repair of the heart mitral and tricuspid valves, combining a reconstruction implant, similar to a surgical annuloplasty mitral valve repair device, with a transcatheter approach. The catheter is inserted into the femoral vein and delivered through a transseptal approach across the septum of the heart. The direct annuloplasty system features a unique segmental deployment that conforms to each patient’s specific annular geometry, addressing the needs of patients with functional mitral regurgitation. A percutaneous treatment (i.e. done through the skin), it allows doctors to perform the necessary reconstruction with a direct annuloplasty delivered transfemorally, negating the need for open-heart surgery.
The Global Impact
In 2016, Valtech was acquired by Edwards Lifesciences Corporation (NYSE: EW) for around 1 billion dollars, one of the biggest exits related to medical devices. Edwards Life Sciences is the global leader in patient-focused innovations for structural heart disease and critical care monitoring, and the sale gives Edwards access to most of the heart valve repair technologies Valtech is developing.
“We are pleased that Edwards, a global leader in patient focused medical innovations for structural heart disease, has elected to include in its growing portfolio of transcatheter based therapies, the CardiobandTM system for both mitral and tricuspid valve repair. We believe this will position CardiobandTM to achieve its full potential as a fundamental breakthrough in the way patients are treated for both mitral and tricuspid regurgitation” said Amir Gross, Founder and CEO of Valtech.