The U.K.’s National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) recommends the use of pulsed field ablation as an option to treat NHS patients with atrial fibrillation. NICE said evidence shows the procedure reduces atrial fibrillation and its symptoms, increases quality of life in the short term and raises no major safety concerns.
Boston Scientific Corp. gained a second U.S. FDA approval for its Farapulse pulsed field ablation catheter, expanding its use into drug-refractory, symptomatic persistent atrial fibrillation (AF) in addition to its existing approval for paroxysmal AF. The expanded indication marks the first of several regulatory approvals the company expects in the coming months.
Field Medical Inc. continues to reap funding from investors for its pulsed field ablation (PFA) system with a $35 million oversubscribed series B financing round. With treatment of atrial fibrillation already upended by PFA technology, Field sees ventricular tachycardia as a fertile new territory for transformation.
Kardium Inc. raised C$340 million (US$250 million) in an oversubscribed financing round to support commercialization of its Globe pulsed field ablation system for atrial fibrillation. Notably, the financing included an equity investment by an unnamed leading strategic investor. Kardium could receive U.S. FDA approval as early as this quarter and plans to launch Globe in the U.S. this year.
Boston Scientific Corp.’s Farapulse pulsed field ablation system racked up more than $1 billion in revenue in its first year; its Watchman left atrial appendage occluder holds more than 90% of the market. How does the company choose and position its products for such astonishing success?
Growth in the first quarter for Boston Scientific Corp.’s blockbuster products, Farapulse and Watchman, pushed the company well over analysts’ expectations and gave management confidence to raise its guidance for the year to 15% to 17% up from 12.4% to 14.5%, despite a projected $200 million in tariff impacts.
Field Medical Inc. reaped $40 million in its series A fundraising via $20 million in new capital and conversion of $20 million in seed-round debt to support development of its next-generation pulsed field ablation technology. Field Medical’s Fieldforce ablation system targets ventricular tachycardia as its initial use, but also has a study in process for atrial fibrillation.
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.
Boston Scientific Corp. reported positive data for two key atrial fibrillation therapies at AF Symposium 2025 on January 17. In late-breaking data presentations, the ADVANTAGE AF trial for the Farapulse PFA system met its primary endpoints, showing a 2.3% safety event rate and 63.5% effectiveness rate in treating persistent atrial fibrillation (AF) patients, with an 85.3% symptomatic AF recurrence-free rate. Additionally, a sub-analysis of the OPTION trial demonstrated that the Watchman FLX device significantly reduced bleeding outcomes compared to oral anticoagulants.
The sedate uptake of pulsed field ablation (PFA) in Europe failed to presage the enthusiasm that drove the technology’s extraordinarily rapid adoption in the U.S. in 2024. Used to treat atrial fibrillation, PFA received its first U.S. FDA approval in Dec. 2023. At the time, Clarivate estimated that PFA had 7% of the global cardiac ablation market. By year-end 2024, it had 20% and Boston Scientific Corp. projected that PFA would represent up to half of the market by the close of 2025.
