Acquisition of HeartWare International to Expand Medtronic Cardiac Portfolio

Medtronic plc (Dublin, Ireland) will acquire HeartWare International, Inc. (Framingham, Massachusetts, USA) in a transaction valued at approximately $1.1 billion. The acquisition of HeartWare, which provides less-invasive, miniaturized circulatory support technologies for the treatment of advanced heart failure, will expand Medtronic's portfolio of diagnostic tools, therapies and services for patients suffering from heart failure.

Heart failure, or congestive heart failure, is a condition or a set of symptoms in which the heart cannot pump the amount of blood required to meet the body's needs. Heart failure often develops gradually following an injury to the heart with injuries including a heart attack, excessive strain on the heart as a result of high blood pressure remaining untreated for years, a diseased heart valve, etc. Heart failure is the number one cause of hospitalization and death in the United States and continues to witness an increase in prevalence, with over five million people being afflicted in the United States alone. Heart failure comes at a high cost and its expense to the United States’ healthcare system is one of the largest at about $39 billion annually.

As per Medtronic’s estimates, the number of patients with heart failure is likely to surpass eight million by 2030 and estimates the global ventricular assist device (VAD) market to be currently about $800 million. Medtronic expects the global VAD market to grow in the mid-to-high single digits for CY16-17 and witness a high-single/low-double digits growth after CY17. HeartWare's HVAD System is the world's smallest full-support VAD for reducing surgical invasiveness, improving patient recovery times and enhancing patient outcomes. HeartWare is also developing various technologies, which will offer progressively less-invasive mechanical circulatory support options for end-stage heart failure patients.

"The addition of HeartWare's innovative portfolio adds to our expanding portfolio of diagnostics, therapeutics and services that address heart failure patients," said Mike Coyle, executive vice president and president of the Cardiac and Vascular Group at Medtronic. "The team at HeartWare has established excellent relationships with its hospital customers and built a strong position and reputation in the marketplace. This transaction, once closed, will be a further, important step toward Medtronic offering a complete suite of solutions to address patient needs across the heart failure care continuum."

"Medtronic is the worldwide leader in cardiovascular device technologies. Its expansive expertise in the development of implantable systems and battery technologies, patient monitoring, manufacturing, global regulatory policy and commercialization should help accelerate the development and introduction of our innovative pipeline products, and will expand access to our therapies and offerings to the sizeable heart failure population," said Doug Godshall, president and chief executive officer, HeartWare. "Combining the unique capabilities of the HeartWare team, which has been entirely focused on mechanical support technologies, with the broad strength of the Medtronic organization provides a unique opportunity to enhance growth in the mechanical circulatory support market.

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