PERTH, Australia – Australia's Admedus Ltd. has sold its Cardiocel and Vascucel patch business to U.S-based LeMaitre Vascular for up to AU$36.2 million (US$24.5 million), to include an AU$22.8 million up-front cash payment.

LONDON – There is no evidence for increased mortality in patients receiving paclitaxel-eluting stents and drug-coated balloons (DCBs) to treat peripheral arterial disease, according to the largest real-world safety analysis to date. The findings may come as a relief to many, particularly after a meta-analysis published in December 2018 led to safety warnings and restrictions on the use of coated and drug-eluting devices.

Medtronic plc, of Dublin, has had a busy week. On Tuesday, it reported that it had received breakthrough device designation from the U.S. FDA for its Valiant TAAA stent graft system for the minimally invasive repair of thoracoabdominal aortic aneurysm (TAAA).

PARIS – Carmat SA, from Vélizy Villacoublay, France, has just raised $66 million from European specialist investors in the life sciences and medical technologies sector.

The U.S. FDA has given Pq Bypass Inc. the greenlight to conduct a pivotal trial aimed at assessing its Torus stent graft in the treatment of peripheral artery disease (PAD) in the superficial femoral artery. The TORUS-2 study is the Milpitas, Calif.-based startup's second IDE approval in less than two years and the first pivotal IDE for an SFA stent graft since W.L. Gore & Associates Inc.'s Viabahn device, which notched an initial PMA approval in 2005.

TORONTO – Several U.S. and Canadian patients have recently undergone successful mitral valve surgery featuring a platform designed by Toronto-based Baylis Medical Inc. to provide more precise access to the wall separating the left and right sides of the heart. Robert Harrison, Baylis's director of research and development for cardiology, said in addition to locating the precise puncture point for mitral valve reconstruction, the Versacross transseptal solution has reduced the number of devices exchanged during the procedure to an all-in-one platform.