Abiomed has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Impella CardioSystems AG, a privately held, venture backed company affiliated with Accelerated Technologies, Inc., and located in Aachen, Germany. Under the terms of the agreement Abiomed will acquire Impella for approximately 4.04 million shares of Abiomed common stock and approximately $1.8 million in cash. In addition, Abiomed may make additional contingent payments to Impella shareholders based on stock price performance, unit sales and FDA approval milestones. The contingent payments range on a scale from zero dollars to approximately $29 million. The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions.
Impella manufactures and commercializes the world's smallest, minimally invasive, high performance micro blood pumps with integrated motors and sensors for use in interventional cardiology and heart surgery. These circulatory assist devices are used by cardiologists in the catheterization lab and are inserted percutaneously into patients, similar to a standard balloon pump procedure, in order to help restore blood flow. Impella has CE marks for each of its devices and currently markets them throughout Europe.
Impella's Recover System pumps are designed to provide left ventricle support for patients suffering from reduced cardiac output and can potentially aid in recovering the hearts of patients suffering from an acute myocardial infarction (AMI), including those who have gone into cardiogenic shock (CS). Patients typically suffer from CS within a few hours after an AMI. Traditionally, an AMI patient is administered inotropic drugs in combination with the insertion of an intra-aortic balloon pump to improve heart function and aid in blood flow. While an intra-aortic balloon pump can increase blood flow from the heart, it does not unload blood from the left ventricle (the pump of the heart), which is necessary for effective recovery.
In addition, strain resulting from multiple high doses of inotropic drugs has been shown to diminish the likelihood of recovering the patient's natural heart. Through a minimally invasive procedure similar to those commonly practiced by cardiologists, an Impella pump is temporarily inserted percutaneously into the left ventricle to help restore blood flow and increase the likelihood for recovery of the patient's natural heart.
"The acquisition of Impella fits perfectly with our strategy of providing cardiac support and circulatory assist to patients throughout all areas of the hospital. We will now be able to provide a continuum of devices that increase the likelihood for recovering a patient's natural heart, beginning in the cath lab and continuing through the surgical suite," stated Michael R Minogue, Chief Executive Officer and President. "In addition, this transaction will enable us to broaden our commercial presence throughout Europe and will provide the company with a strong foundation in Germany."
AMI is estimated to occur in approximately 865,000 patients annually in the US and in over one million patients throughout the rest of the world. Of these incidents, approximately 7-10% (159,000 cases) go into cardiogenic shock, which results in death for greater than 50% of the patients. The clinical mindset is changing from measuring success in terms of mortality to measuring success in terms of natural heart recovery.
Approximately 100,000 people in the US and 18,000 in Japan receive intra-aortic balloon pumps as a part of acute cardiac treatment each year. In addition, in the US alone, there are approximately 1 million procedures conducted annually in the cath lab, of which 5-10% are considered to be high risk procedures that could benefit from a circulatory assist device, like the Impella pumps.
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