European regulators have approved the delivery of Medtronic‘s CoreValve System using a new direct aortic approach in patients with severe aortic stenosis.Transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) is a less-invasive alternative to open-heart surgery for aortic valve replacement, but some patients are unsuited for the procedure because they have small vessels. The newly CE Marked direct [...]

Life science current events this week include a new Israeli medical device company in Cleveland, updates on Cleveland Clinic medical companies, Medtronic CoreValve news and new opportunities in North Carolina venture capital.

Medtronic Inc. announced Tuesday that its CoreValve System, designed to enable the replacement of a diseased aortic valve without open heart surgery, showed health improvements over a two-year period on patients implanted with the device.The two-year study involved 126 patients at nine centers in Europe and Canada. The Fridley, Minnesota company released the data at [...]

The protracted battle over transcatheter heart valves between Medtronic Inc. (NYSE:MDT) and Edwards Lifesciences Inc. (NYSE:EW) will be decided in the streets rather than the courts.

Medtronic Inc. (NYSE:MDT) managed to find the silver lining in the dark cloud that is a $74 million patent infringement judgment against it when a federal judge denied an Edwards Lifesciences Inc. (NYSE:EW) move to bar U.S. manufacturing and sales of its CoreValve aortic valve replacement.

Medtronic Inc. (NYSE:MDT) said Thursday that European regulators have approved its valve replacement technology to treat patients suffering from severe aortic stenosis. The company based in Fridley, Minnesota, said its CoreValve unit received the CE Mark, allowing Medtronic to sell the system to countries throughout the European Union.

On Wall Street, you’re only as good as your next acquisition. Try telling that to Medtronic Inc. (NYSE:MDT). Over the past two years, the Fridley, Minnesota, medical device maker purchased nine companies: $700 million for CoreValve Inc., $370 million for ATS Medical Inc., $123 million for Osteotech Inc. — all small, “tuck-in” deals. The time is ripe for a big acquisition.

When you’re the richest kid on the block, it’s easy to make friends. For Medtronic Inc. (NYSE: MDT), those friends happen to be investment bankers and venture capitalists. And the world’s largest medical device maker has been on an acquisition tear of late, using its considerable cash hoard to buy nine companies since 2009.

If the United States truly wants to boost the economy and narrow its ginormous trade deficit, then medical technology would seem like a good place to start.Minnesota’s bread-and-butter industry generated a $5.4 billion trade surplus last year, one of the few American industries to do so. Which is why Obama administration officials visited Medtronic Inc. [...]

Medtronic Inc. (NYSE: MDT) said two-year results from a clinical study demonstrate the durability and efficacy of its CoreValve catheter-based heart valve replacement system.The 126-patient study in Canada and Europe showed that 73 percent of patients saw their heart-failure symptoms “improve substantially,” according to a statement from Medtronic. During the two-year period, no valve migration [...]