Niki Arrowsmith04.03.12
Medical device company HeartWare International Inc. will acquire World Heart Corporation for $8 million. The value of the merger will be paid in HeartWare stock shares or cash at the company’s discretion. HeartWare develops and manufactures miniaturized ventricular assist devices (VADs), and World Heart, based in Salt Lake City, Utah, develops left ventricular assist devices.
The goal of the acquisition, said Doug Godshall, president and CEO of HeartWare, is to expand his firm’s patent portfolio and thereby “broaden options for the future.”
The Framingham, Mass.-based medical company has a busy year ahead of it. Next month, it will present its HVAD pump to an U.S Food and Drug Administration review panel. The HVAD system is a centrifugal pump that draws blood from the left ventricle and propels it through an outflow graft connected to the patient's ascending aorta. Mid-year, the company will begin a study that will test its MVAD system, a smaller version of the HVAD, in humans for the first time.
World Heart’s portfolio includes the MiFlow VAD, which the company claims is designed to provide up to 6 liters of blood flow per minute, and is aimed at providing partial to full circulatory support in both early and late-stage heart failure patients.
Both companies’ boards of directors have approved the merger. While HeartWare stockholder permission is not required for the transaction of shares to occur, World Heart stockholder approval is still needed. The acquisition is expected to be complete within 90 days.
The goal of the acquisition, said Doug Godshall, president and CEO of HeartWare, is to expand his firm’s patent portfolio and thereby “broaden options for the future.”
The Framingham, Mass.-based medical company has a busy year ahead of it. Next month, it will present its HVAD pump to an U.S Food and Drug Administration review panel. The HVAD system is a centrifugal pump that draws blood from the left ventricle and propels it through an outflow graft connected to the patient's ascending aorta. Mid-year, the company will begin a study that will test its MVAD system, a smaller version of the HVAD, in humans for the first time.
World Heart’s portfolio includes the MiFlow VAD, which the company claims is designed to provide up to 6 liters of blood flow per minute, and is aimed at providing partial to full circulatory support in both early and late-stage heart failure patients.
Both companies’ boards of directors have approved the merger. While HeartWare stockholder permission is not required for the transaction of shares to occur, World Heart stockholder approval is still needed. The acquisition is expected to be complete within 90 days.