St. Jude Medical Buys Equity Stake in CardioMEMS

St. Jude Medical, Inc. will purchase a $60 million equity stake in privately held CardioMEMS, a medical device company that has developed a wireless sensing and communication technology to assess cardiac performance.

The agreement provides St. Jude Medical an immediate 19 percent ownership in CardioMEMS and the exclusive option to acquire the company for an additional payment of $375 million following the completion of certain commercialization milestones.

CardioMEMS’ wireless monitoring technology can be placed directly in the pulmonary artery to assess cardiac performance via measurement of pulmonary artery pressure (PAP). According to the firm’s leadership, the implant procedure is “fast, and simple” and can be performed by any physician who does right-heart catheterizations.

The sensor transmits real-time hemodynamic data via an external monitor to the patient’s clinic for review. PAP is a commonly used measurement to assess heart failure (HF) patients in hospitals. Using CardioMEMS technology, doctors would be able to obtain critical information without the need for a cardiac catheterization, company officials noted. Patients would be able to transmit readings from their homes, potentially allowing physicians to directly and more effectively direct treatments to keep patients out of the hospital.

According to the American Heart Association, more than five million Americans suffer from heart failure, with 670,000 new cases diagnosed each year. The estimated direct and indirect cost of HF in the United States for 2009 was $37.2 billion.

“As we work toward the commercialization of this promising technology, we are excited to have the support of a company like St. Jude Medical, with its significant expertise and focus in the areas of cardiac rhythm management, heart failure disease management and other cardiac technologies,” said Jay S. Yadav, M.D., founder and CEO of Atlanta, Ga.-based CardioMEMS.

According to Eric S. Fain, M.D., president of the St. Jude Medical’s Cardiac Rhythm Management division, the investment in CardioMEMS “reaffirms our commitment to technology platforms that improve heart failure management and the potential benefits of hemodynamic monitoring for both patients and the health care economic system.”

According to St. Jude officials, the agreement does not change the company’s earnings outlook for 2010. St. Jude Medical is headquartered in St. Paul, Minn. and has four major focus areas that include: cardiac rhythm management, atrial fibrillation, cardiovascular and neuromodulation.