St. Jude Medical Inc. (NYSE: STJ) has agreed to pay $90 million in cash for a company that has commercialized an emerging type of medical imaging technology for use during vascular procedures.
The acquisition of LightLab Imaging Inc. in Westford, Massachusetts, would enable St. Jude Medical to enter the $500 million coronary imaging market, according to the companies’ joint press release. The deal also could enable the Little Canada, Minnesota, medical device maker to significantly expand that market with a new imaging technology — optical coherence tomography (OCT).
Earlier this month, LightLab received Food and Drug Administration approval to sell its C7-XR Imaging System and accompanying C7 Dragonfly Imaging Catheter (pdf), which produces images of blood vessels, especially during interventional cardiology procedures. LightLab is a subsidiary of Goodman Co. Ltd. (JASDAQ: 7535) in Nagoya, Japan.
With the Rise of AI, What IP Disputes in Healthcare Are Likely to Emerge?
Munck Wilson Mandala Partner Greg Howison shared his perspective on some of the legal ramifications around AI, IP, connected devices and the data they generate, in response to emailed questions.
OCT uses near-infrared light to produce high-resolution, real-time images that are better and faster than images produced by competing ultrasound technology. LightLab said the resolution of its images are 10 times greater than those produced by intravascular ultrasound — and they are made 20 times faster. Ultrasound technology uses sound instead of light to produce images.
St. Jude Medical expects the OCT platform to boost the top line of its Medical Cardiovascular Division by $20 million during the second half of the year. The OCT market itself is expected to grow at a double-digit, compounded annual rate over the next five years, according to the Minnesota company.
The company already has fractional flow reserve (FFR) technology to measure the effects of coronary procedures. The addition of the C7-XR system would make it the first company to offer both OCT and FFR technologies to enable clinicians to see and measure vessel characteristics that are invisible or difficult to observe with older imaging technologies, St. Jude Medical said.
“We are pleased to add this new growth platform to our cardiovascular business, especially in conjunction with our FFR platform, and we are excited by the many opportunities this acquisition creates for St. Jude Medical and LightLab, physician customers and their patients,” said Daniel J. Starks, chairman, president an chief executive of St. Jude Medical, in the companies’ release. “We welcome LightLab and its employees to St. Jude Medical.”
