Stentys to Acquire Assets of Cappella Peel Away Inc.

Stentys will acquire Cappella Peel Away Inc. and its assets relating to a novel stent delivery system.

The acquisition is subject to closing conditions. Terms were not disclosed.

Stentys, which has offices in Princeton, N.J., and Paris, France, is marketing in Europe what it claims is the world’s first and only Self-Apposing Stent to treat acute myocardial infarction (AMI).

The catheter technology will enable the implantation of the Self-Apposing stent in the same manner as a conventional balloon-expandable stent. To release the stent in the vessel at the desired location, the cardiologist inflates a small balloon that splits open the stent-containing sheath. This technology has been used as part of Cappella’s Sideguard coronary bifurcation stent, which is CE marked in Europe and has been clinically validated by an extensive number of Sideguard stent implants.

Cappella Peel Away Inc. assets consist of a license agreement on patents related to the novel peel away sheath technology for a stent delivery system, technical specifications and drawings, clinical and regulatory documentation and equipment from Cappella Inc. The latter will retain the rights to the peel-away sheath technology for its Sideguard coronary bifurcation stent and for other potential applications including peripheral vascular indications.

Stentys will incorporate the technology into its next-generation delivery system for the company’s line of bare metal and drug-eluting stents and expects to start commercializing these in 2015.

Gonzague Issenmann, co-founder and CEO of Stentys said: “This is Stentys’ first strategic acquisition, and it results from our active research efforts, including constant monitoring of the landscape for complementary tools to add to our portfolio. We are very excited about the potential for the Cappella Peel Away catheters to offer cardiologists an even friendlier user experience for implantation of our stents and allow more heart attack patients to benefit from Stentys’ Self-Apposing technology.”

The Self-Apposing stent is designed to address the sizing dilemma that cardiologists are confronted with when treating heart attack patients or patients with atypical artery anatomy. Its flexible, self expanding design takes the shape of the patient’s unique vessel anatomy and apposes to the irregular contours of a blood vessel, in particular after an AMI as the vessel dilates and the clot dissolves. It reduces the risk of malapposition and complications associated with conventional stents in this setting. The Stentys Self-Apposing stent has been marketed in Europe since receiving CE Mark in 2010. The company’s irolimus-eluting stent should receive the CE mark during the second half of 2014.

Cappella Inc. is the parent company of ArraVasc Ltd., which is involved in developing, manufacturing and marketing novel peripheral balloons and catheters. ArraVasc’s first product line, Pirouette, is a CE marked, low profile 4F Percutaneous transluminal angioplasty catheter for below-the-knee application.