Johnson & Johnson’s Medtech division reported the completion of the first cases in the clinical trial for the Ottava robotic surgical system. The cases mark the first clinical experience with the Ottava system, which has been a long time in development.
Edwards Lifesciences Corp.’s Sapien M3 secured CE mark for its Sapien M3 mitral valve replacement system for transfemoral treatment of patients with mitral valve disease who are ineligible for surgery or transcatheter edge-to-edge repair. Sapien M3 is indicated for individuals with symptomatic moderate-to-severe or severe mitral valve regurgitation.
The new technology add-on payment for the TAG thoracic branch endoprosthesis is likely coming to an end, but the device’s manufacturer, Gore Medical Inc., petitioned CMS to reassign the procedure to a new diagnostic-related group that would more accurately reflect the costs of the related procedure.
In the wake of the pandemic, many leading med-tech companies took steps to on-shore and near-shore manufacturing, a move that could protect significant numbers of players from the worst of the effects of the tariffs announced by the Trump administration last week.
Pulsed field ablation using Boston Scientific Corp.’s Farapulse system was non-inferior and even superior, slightly, to Medtronic plc’s Artic Front Advance cardiac cryoablation system in treating patients with paroxysmal atrial fibrillation.
The Trump administration’s declaration of a new round of tariffs did not sit well with trade associations, but the impact of those tariffs may vary somewhat by company. Analysts said the lack of clarity regarding the impact of tariffs makes it difficult to predict the impact on the device and diagnostics industries, leaving investors and customers alike with a large overhang of uncertainty.
The renal denervation patent wars are now in full swing, with subsidiaries of Medtronic plc and Recor Medical LLC, landing the first blow in this chapter of the med tech patent struggles.
Medtronic plc’s Evolut Low-Risk trial continued to show non-inferiority of transcatheter aortic valve replacement to surgical aortic valve replacement in terms of death or disabling stroke at five years in a late-breaking presentation at the American College of Cardiology’s Annual Scientific Session in Chicago on March 30.
Abbott Laboratories snagged a CE mark for its Volt pulsed field ablation catheter for atrial fibrillation several months earlier than the mid-year approval expected. The Abbott Park, Ill.-based company has begun Volt’s commercial launch with the physicians who participated in its European clinical trials and plans to expand to other users on the continent in the second half of 2025.
The U.S. FDA has posted several class I recalls in recent days, including a removal of one model of the Medtronic Vascular’s Pipeline Vantage embolization device due to insufficient apposition to the vessel wall.
