09.17.13
JenaValve Technology Inc. has gained expanded European approval for its JenaValve transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) systems for the treatment of aortic valve disease. The company’s CE mark approval has expanded to include the transapical TAVI system for the treatment of aortic insufficiency (AI), a condition also known as aortic regurgitation, in which the native aortic valve does not close properly, allowing blood to leak back into the left ventricle of the heart.
According to the company, JenaValve is now the only TAVI device worldwide approved for the treatment of high-risk or inoperable patients suffering from severe aortic insufficiency. The CE mark expansion, which is an addition to JenaValve’s initial September 2011 CE Mark approval for the treatment of stenosed and calcified aortic valve diseases, enables JenaValve to market its product for AI to physicians and their patients throughout all countries recognizing the CE Mark. The JenaValve is now approved for the entire range of aortic valve disease, from severely calcified to not calcified at all.
“The granting of a CE mark expansion to cover the clinical indication of aortic insufficiency … will provide a new option for thousands of patients; more than 23 percent of all patients with native aortic valve diseases suffer from AI,” said Helmut J. Straubinger, CEO of JenaValve. “Today, open-heart valve replacement surgery is the standard procedure for AI patients, high-risk patients or inoperable patients are treated conservatively with drugs. According to published clinical data, the yearly mortality rate of these conservatively treated patients is approximately 25 percent. For these patients, the JenaValve now provides a beneficial alternative treatment opportunity. This new approval means our transapical TAVI system, compared to all other competitors, can now treat the broadest range of patients.”
JenaValve’s TAVI systems have a clip-mechanism designed to allow for “active fixation” on the diseased valve leaflets and requires no calcification of the native valve to be implanted and effective. The system is clipped and fixed on the native valve leaflets in a manner similar to a paper clip. Without calcification, there is significant risk that these other devices will migrate into the aortic arch causing risk to the patient. According to the company, clinical studies performed with competitor devices in patients with pure AI revealed unsatisfying results with a high number of residual paravalvular leaks requiring second interventions.
“Severe aortic regurgitation is an indication for surgical aortic valve repair or replacement in the majority of patients,” said Professor Hendrik Treede, M.D., director of minimally invasive cardiac surgery at the University Heart Center Hamburg, Germany. “Nevertheless there is a need for interventional catheter based aortic valve implantation in patients at high surgical risk or with contraindications for surgery. First generation TAVI devices require substantial oversizing in non-calcified annuli carrying the risk of paravalvular leakage, valve migration or further annulus dilatation. The JenaValve TAVI system has proven safety and efficacy in catheter-based treatment of pure aortic regurgitation in sufficient numbers of patients. The unique clip-mechanism fixes the native leaflets to the stent thereby achieving anatomically correct implantation and full coverage of the native annulus without the need for extensive oversizing and without paravalvular leak. Transapical JenaValve implantation has become the treatment of choice for patients with pure or predominant aortic regurgitation at high risk for surgery at the University Heart Center Hamburg.”
JenaValve is headquartered in Munich, Germany and its U.S. offices are in Wilmington, Del. The company focuses solely on TAVI systems, which, according to Goldman Sachs Investment Research, produce $1 billion in global revenues annually and are projected to reach $3 billion in 2016.
According to the company, JenaValve is now the only TAVI device worldwide approved for the treatment of high-risk or inoperable patients suffering from severe aortic insufficiency. The CE mark expansion, which is an addition to JenaValve’s initial September 2011 CE Mark approval for the treatment of stenosed and calcified aortic valve diseases, enables JenaValve to market its product for AI to physicians and their patients throughout all countries recognizing the CE Mark. The JenaValve is now approved for the entire range of aortic valve disease, from severely calcified to not calcified at all.
JenaValve TAVI systems. Image courtesy of JenaValve Technology. |
“The granting of a CE mark expansion to cover the clinical indication of aortic insufficiency … will provide a new option for thousands of patients; more than 23 percent of all patients with native aortic valve diseases suffer from AI,” said Helmut J. Straubinger, CEO of JenaValve. “Today, open-heart valve replacement surgery is the standard procedure for AI patients, high-risk patients or inoperable patients are treated conservatively with drugs. According to published clinical data, the yearly mortality rate of these conservatively treated patients is approximately 25 percent. For these patients, the JenaValve now provides a beneficial alternative treatment opportunity. This new approval means our transapical TAVI system, compared to all other competitors, can now treat the broadest range of patients.”
JenaValve’s TAVI systems have a clip-mechanism designed to allow for “active fixation” on the diseased valve leaflets and requires no calcification of the native valve to be implanted and effective. The system is clipped and fixed on the native valve leaflets in a manner similar to a paper clip. Without calcification, there is significant risk that these other devices will migrate into the aortic arch causing risk to the patient. According to the company, clinical studies performed with competitor devices in patients with pure AI revealed unsatisfying results with a high number of residual paravalvular leaks requiring second interventions.
“Severe aortic regurgitation is an indication for surgical aortic valve repair or replacement in the majority of patients,” said Professor Hendrik Treede, M.D., director of minimally invasive cardiac surgery at the University Heart Center Hamburg, Germany. “Nevertheless there is a need for interventional catheter based aortic valve implantation in patients at high surgical risk or with contraindications for surgery. First generation TAVI devices require substantial oversizing in non-calcified annuli carrying the risk of paravalvular leakage, valve migration or further annulus dilatation. The JenaValve TAVI system has proven safety and efficacy in catheter-based treatment of pure aortic regurgitation in sufficient numbers of patients. The unique clip-mechanism fixes the native leaflets to the stent thereby achieving anatomically correct implantation and full coverage of the native annulus without the need for extensive oversizing and without paravalvular leak. Transapical JenaValve implantation has become the treatment of choice for patients with pure or predominant aortic regurgitation at high risk for surgery at the University Heart Center Hamburg.”
JenaValve is headquartered in Munich, Germany and its U.S. offices are in Wilmington, Del. The company focuses solely on TAVI systems, which, according to Goldman Sachs Investment Research, produce $1 billion in global revenues annually and are projected to reach $3 billion in 2016.