Dive Brief:
- London-based healthcare firm BTG announced Friday it acquired Novate Medical, an Irish medical device company, for $20 million in cash. The deal could reach up to $150 million if "certain commercial and sales-related milestones are met."
- Novate, which received permission to market its bioconvertible inferior vena cava (IVC) filter from FDA in February, focuses on pulmonary embolism prevention.
- BTG says that it will launch the product, Sentry, in the United States in the second half of FY 2018/19 through its own vascular sales unit.
Dive Insight:
Novate's Sentry is a blood filter that is designed to trap blood clots, with a goal of reducing the risk of PE.
The product is indicated for patients with a "transient high risk of PE" during a pulmonary thromboembolism when anticoagulants should not be used, when anticoagulant therapy is not working and for emergencies following a massive PE "when anticipated benefits of conventional therapy are reduced."
BTG says that the approval was supported by clinical trial data that found "no new symptomatic PE and no evidence of device migration, tilt, fracture, perforation or embolization, complications which have been associated with some other IVC filters" over a 12 month study.
"This bolt-on acquisition further enhances BTG's strength in the vascular space." BTG CEO Louise Makin said in a statement. "Novate's unique IVC filter offers our existing customers a highly complementary product in the management of PE."
Novate raised 4 million euros in Series A funding in 2007 from Enterprise Ireland and ACT Venture Capital, followed by a Series B round of 8.7 million euros in 2011 from the two investors, Seroba Life Sciences and Omnes Capital, according to Crunchbase.
