Medtronic and Volcano Form Strategic Alliance to Serve Cardiac Cath Labs

August 29, 2012—Medtronic, Inc. (Minneapolis, MN) and Volcano Corporation (San Diego, CA) announced that they have entered into a strategic alliance to provide interventional cardiologists, cardiac catheterization laboratory managers, and cardiovascular service line directors with both companies' products to address the spectrum of clinical needs in treating coronary artery disease. This strategic alliance provides clinicians in the United States with access to each company's complementary technologies, including Medtronic's portfolio of guidewires, balloon catheters, bare-metal stents, and drug-eluting stents, and Volcano's suite of intravascular ultrasound imaging technology and functional management tools that facilitate endovascular procedures and guide optimal therapies.

Under the terms of the agreement, Medtronic and Volcano will collaborate when developing contract solutions with hospital customers in the United States. The companies stated that this arrangement is designed to help hospitals reduce their capital upfront costs and to provide them with the latest technologies and equipment through one point of access.