The move is supposed to strengthen Medtronic’s position in the expanding cardiovascular market. It adds to a series of purchases made by the medical device giant in the last two years, paying a total of more than $2 Billion.

In 2009, Medtronic has spent over $1 billion to acquire CoreValve as well as the Israeli Ventor Technologies. Both companies are developing ways to implant replacement heart valves through catheters snaked up the groin instead of cracking open the chest in major surgery. And in 2008, Medtronic acquired CryoCath Technologies for $380 million. The Canadian company makes catheters (tubes) that can deliver subzero temperatures to the heart.

ATS’s purchase, explained Tim Lee, an analyst with Piper Jaffrey in San Francisco, “provides the acquirer with a leading mechanical valve franchise, an emerging tissue valve franchise, and most importantly, an R&D pipeline in transcatheter valves.”

Medtronic’s competitor in the field of transcatheter valves, Edward Lifesciences, will lose its patent protection in 2011 or 2012, said Lee. “As such, we think any company working towards entering the transcatheter space may be giving a long hard look at ATS if they haven’t already done so,” Lee wrote.

Medtronic might be done with buying cardiology companies, but its competitors – Edwards, Cordis (J&J) ,Guidant ( Boston Scientific ) and others – cannot take a rest just now. Interventional Cardiology R&D is a hot area in the last years, and so whoever does not want to stay put must run very fast.

This outlook might also bring good news to Israeli interventional cardiology companies.. We already saw big purchases of local cardiology companies in the past (see table below). Continuous Israeli R&D efforts might not be a guarantee, but certainly raises the chances for another future Israeli exit, right in the field where the global giants need it the most.

* An American-Israeli company

For further reading, see:

http://www.medcitynews.com/2010/04/medtronic-inc-buys-ats-medical-for-370-million/

http://www.dicardiology.net/node/35233/

http://www.topdevicecompanies.com/2010/03/medtronic-edwards-heart-valves-said-to-have-longterm-demand.html