Edwards Makes Investment With Option to Acquire Harpoon Medical

December 9, 2015—Edwards Lifesciences is making a structured investment in Harpoon Medical, Inc., that includes an upfront investment and an exclusive option to acquire the company, according to an Edwards press release in advance of its annual investor conference. Harpoon Medical is a privately held medical technology company that is developing a transcatheter mitral valve repair (TMVR) system.

In September, Harpoon Medical announced that its early feasibility study of the Harpoon TMVR device had enrolled 10 patients with severe degenerative mitral regurgitation at two clinical study sites in Europe. In October, the company advised that initial clinical results from the study were presented by James Gammie, MD, at TCT 2015, the 27th annual Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics scientific symposium, which was held October 11–15 in San Francisco, California.

Also in September, Harpoon Medical announced financing that will be used to support the ongoing early feasibility study and start a larger clinical trial, which is scheduled to begin enrolling patients before the end of the year to support European CE Mark approval. The Harpoon TMVR device is not available for commercial use in the United States.