Rob Michiels has joined another heart valve company. The former president and chief operating officer of replacement heart valve manufacturer CoreValve Inc. has accepted the top spot at CardiAQ Valve Technologies Inc.
Brent Ratz, the privately-held company’s founding CEO, remains a director and president. He also assumes the role of chief operating officer.
“Given Rob’s success in shepherding the evolution and growth of the TAVI [transcatheter aortic valve implantation] business from the ground up at CoreValve, I am very excited that I was able to convince him to join us full-time,” Ratz said.
Michiels is a 30-year veteran of the medical device industry. Besides his stint at CoreValve (which was acquired by Medtronic Inc. for at least $700 million in April 2009), Michiels was CEO of VenPro Corporation, general manager and corporate officer at EndoSonics Corp., and president and COO of InterVentional Technologies Inc.
In addition, Michiels, 61, is a founding partner of Consilium Associates, a medical device market research firm based in Irvine, Calif. The company identifies and funds new technologies (in 2002, Michiels led theoriginal angel investment in CoreValve).
Fluent in English, French and Dutch, Michiels has a bachelor’s degree in economics from Antwerp University in Belgium and a master’s degree in business administration from Indiana University.
CardiAQ Valve has developed a proprietary system for transcatheter mitral valve implantation. According to the Irvine, Calif.-based company, the system features an anchoring mechanism and delivery catheter that allow surgeons to accurately and
securely implant a new mitral valve within a beating heart.