A Medical Device Daily

Privately-held Arbor Surgical Technologies (Irvine, California) reported the closing of a $20 million Series C financing round.

Medtronic (Minneapolis) led the investment as part of a licensing agreement that was reached between the two companies. The agreement provides Medtronic with manufacturing, marketing and distribution rights to Arbor’s advanced trilobal pericardial valve technologies. Financial terms of the license agreement have not been disclosed. Arbor retains exclusive rights to the modular Trilogy Aortic Valve System and sutureless TRE implantation technologies.

Existing Arbor investors also participated in this new round of financing. With the closing of this event, Arbor said it has raised about $54 million dollars to date.

“We are optimistic that Arbor’s pericardial valve design combined with Medtronic’s proprietary technologies will achieve best-in-class performance. I am truly excited about this opportunity and the ongoing strengthening of our Structural Heart Disease product offering,” said John Liddicoat, VP and GM of Medtronic Structural Heart Disease. “No other comparable technology is on the horizon.”

Medtronic said the technology will complement its Structural Heart Disease therapy objectives, which are focused on developing effective options for valve disease, septal defects and atrial fibrillation. It believes Arbor’s technology will facilitate the development of Medtronic’s first pericardial valve, which will complement its portfolio of porcine and mechanical heart valves. The company will continue to enhance its line of third-generation porcine valves, as well as invest in its transcatheter valve program. Medtronic said it anticipates manufacturing the valve in its existing production facilities.

“We are excited to complete this milestone round of financing,” said Steve Bacich, president/CEO of Arbor. “This financing event will allow us to expand clinical trials of our core technologies, the Trilogy Aortic Valve System and the sutureless TRE implantation tool. These devices are designed to enable more surgeons to perform minimally invasive heart valve procedures.”

Arbor was founded in 2002 by entrepreneur Thomas Fogarty, MD, and valve designer, Ernie Lane.

According to the Millennium Research Group, more than 106,000 heart valves are expected to be implanted in the in the U.S. in 2008.