St. Jude Medical Makes Equity Investment in CardioMEMS

September 7, 2010—St. Jude Medical, Inc. (St. Paul, MN) and CardioMEMS, Inc. (Atlanta, GA) announced that they have reached an agreement under which St. Jude Medical will make a $60 million equity investment in CardioMEMS. The agreement provides St. Jude Medical with an immediate 19% ownership in CardioMEMS and the exclusive option to acquire the company for an additional payment of $375 million during the period that extends through the completion of certain commercialization milestones.

According to the companies, CardioMEMS has developed a wireless sensing and communication technology to assess cardiac performance. The wireless monitoring technology can be placed directly in the pulmonary artery to assess cardiac performance via measurement of pulmonary artery pressure. Any physician who does right-heart catheterizations can perform the implant procedure. The sensor transmits real-time hemodynamic data via an external monitor to the patient's clinic for review. With this technology, doctors can obtain critical information without the need for cardiac catheterization. Patients can transmit these readings from their homes, and with this information, physicians can more effectively direct treatments to keep patients out of the hospital.

The companies stated that the CardioMEMS monitoring system is supported by results from the CHAMPION (CardioMEMS Heart Sensor Allows Monitoring of Pressure to Improve Outcomes in NYHA Class III Patients) trial, which were presented in May 2010 at the European Society of Cardiology Heart Failure Congress in Berlin, Germany. The randomized, controlled CHAMPION trial studied the effectiveness of this device in New York Heart Association class III heart failure (HF) patients, regardless of their ejection fraction, who had been hospitalized for HF within the previous 12 months. The trial found a statistically significant 30% reduction in the rate of HF-related hospitalization at 6 months and a 38% per year reduction in HF-related hospitalizations during an average follow-up of 15 months.