Medtronic Will Acquire Startup Corventis

During a recent investor meeting, an official for Minneapolis, Minn.-based Medtronic Inc. confirmed that the company would buy Corventis Inc., a venture-backed, St. Paul, Minn.-based maker of wireless health-monitoring patches. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Medtronic officials instead called the deal a “staged investment.”

Initial reports and rumors surfaced in May that Medtronic was negotiating a deal to buy Corventis. At the time, however, officials would not comment. But on June 5, during Medtronic’s investor conference in New York, N.Y., officials confirmed that the acquisition will close this month.

Michael Coyle, president of Medtronic’s cardiac and vascular group said during the conference that Medtronic partnered with Corventis to develop the startup’s patch, which monitors heart rate, fluids and respiratory activity. Data is transmitted over a cellular network.

The Nuvant Mobile Cardiac Telemetry (MCT) system from Corventis, which was cleared by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 2010, is designed to help physicians around the world better diagnose cardiac arrhythmias such as atrial fibrillation.
The device is small and is worn on a patient’s chest.

According to Corventis, Nuvant MCT “provides continuous monitoring of symptomatic and asymptomatic cardiac abnormalities so physicians can detect problems in a timely way.”

The company’s other marketed device, the Avivo Mobile Patient Management system is designed to provide continuous insight into the health status of ambulatory patients, such as those living with heart failure or fluid management problems, so healthcare providers can proactively identify concerning trends and intervene before problems progress. The device has received CE mark in Europe and FDA clearance.

Originally best suited for emerging markets, according to Coyle in a transcript of the meeting, the company now predicts a market for the technology in the United States and Europe. Coyle said the devices might be able to serve as an alternative to holter monitors, which are commonly worn to monitor heart rhythms.

Medtronic’s cardiovascular market rival, St. Jude Medical Inc., recently purchased Atlanta, Ga.-based CardioMEMS, which makes an implantable cardiac monitoring technology. Analysts that acquisitions such as this will become more common as large companies pursue home health and monitoring technologies as longer-term healthcare solutions for reducing costs and improving outcomes.