Abbott adds mitral valve replacement to repair

No sooner said than done – well, almost. Abbott’s Tendyne has become the first minimally invasive mitral valve prosthesis approved in Europe, a week after the company said it would. The valve is a third-choice therapy: it is only to be used in patients for whom surgery or transcatheter mitral repair is not an option. Abbott, of course, also has the leading second-choice product in the hugely successful MitraClip, and is thus way ahead of its rivals in mitral valve disease. It is also in the best position to make a success of the acquisition of a mitral valve developer. As the table below shows, one of these dealmakers has been unable to move its mitral valve past early trials, and another has given up completely. The next prosthesis to gain CE mark will likely be Medtronic’s Intrepid, which is also the only other project to have started a pivotal US trial – and this could report before Abbott’s does. Medtronic spent much more on its acquisition, however, so investors will want Intrepid to outperform Tendyne, despite its later arrival.