St. Jude Medical, Inc. recently announced that it has completed its acquisition of Thoratec Corporation. In July 2015, St. Jude Medical announced its offer to buy Thoratec shares at $63.50 per share. The transaction is valued at about $3.3 billion.
Prior to the acquisition, St. Jude Medical’s heart failure portfolio included its CardioMEMS heart failure (HF) monitoring device, which received a limited FDA approval in 2014 specifically for use “in New York Heart Association (NYHA) Class III heart failure patients who have been hospitalized for heart failure in the previous year.” Acquiring Thoratec augments that portfolio with Thoratec’s HeartMate II and Heartmate 3 LVADs (Left Ventricular Assist Devices), the CentriMag and PediMag Blood Pumps, and the Thoratec PVAD (Paracorporeal Ventricular Assist Device). The HeartMate II received FDA approval in 2008 for use in “patients awaiting further, perhaps more complex treatment, such as transplants” and in 2010 for use in “severe heart failure patients who are not acceptable candidates for heart transplantation.” Thoratec’s Heartmate 3 is a chronic mechanical circulatory support (MCS) device currently being considered for a CE Mark in Europe.
Regarding the acquisition, St. Jude Medical’s Chief Operating Officer and incoming President and Chief Executive Officer, Michael T. Rousseau stated:
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. We believe this acquisition represents a tremendous opportunity and we welcome Thoratec’s employees as we look forward to changing the way the world views the treatment of this expensive epidemic disease.
According to its website, St. Jude Medical is a global medical device manufacturer, headquartered in St. Paul, Minnesota and focuses on six key treatment areas: heart failure, arrhythmias, vascular disease, structural heart, chronic pain, and neurological diseases.
Thoratec is a Pleasanton, California-based company focusing on mechanical circulatory support therapies for heart failures.
