Abbott to acquire mitral valve device maker Cephea Valve Tech

Abbott (NYSE:ABT) said today that it plans to acquire mitral heart valve replacement tech developer Cephea Valve Technologies for an undisclosed amount.

The Chicago-area healthcare giant backed the Santa Clara, Calif.-based valve company in July 2015 and secured an option to purchase it outright, which it has now chosen to exercise.

Cephea is developing mitral valve tech designed to be delivered through a vein in the leg and remove the need for open-heart surgery, Abbott said. Neither company has released any details of the acquisition.

“The acquisition of Cephea builds on Abbott’s strong position in structural heart therapies and is consistent with our strategy to develop comprehensive treatments for people with mitral valve disease. Cephea’s novel approach to replace the mitral valve adds to our other catheter-based technologies and is being developed to provide an additional option for patients who suffer from this difficult-to-treat disease,” structural heart biz VP Michael Dale said in a press release.

The newly acquired tech from Cephea will join other mitral valve-focused devices the company previously scooped up, including its MitraClip tech acquired in 2009 from Evalve and minimally invasive mitral valve systems from Tendyne Holdings, which it acquired when it originally invested in Cephea, Abbott said.

Earlier this week, Abbott won FDA pre-market approval for its Amplatzer Piccolo occluder intended for treating a congenital heart defect in neonatal infants as small as two pounds.

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