Innovation, influence and business in America's medical cities.

The shareholders of cardiovascular technology firm ATS Medical (NASDAQ: ATSI) voted in favor of the company’s $370 million sale to neighboring device giant Medtronic Inc. (NYSE: MDT).About 79 percent of the company’s outstanding shares were voted, with about 95 percent of those in approval of the $4-per-share deal, according to a statement from Plymouth, Minnesota-based [...]

Cardiac and vascular device maker AGA Medical Holdings Inc. (NYSE: AGAM) has been awarded $2.6 million in damages by a German court in a patent-infringement case.AGA’s patent dispute with Germany-based Occlutech GmbH stretches back to 2006 and involves intravascular occlusion devices and the method of manufacturing those devices, according to a statement from Plymouth, [...]

CVRx Inc. in Plymouth, Minn. said Monday that hypertension patients using its Rheos stimulation device reported a sharp drop in blood pressure after four years.In a study presented to the European Society of Hypertension meeting, the company said patients’ average systolic blood pressure dropped 27 percent to 140 mmHg (millimeters of mercury) from 193 mmHg [...]

AGA Medical Inc. (NASDAQ: AGAM) has enrolled the first patient in a clinical trial of a cardiac device aimed at preventing strokes in patients with abnormal heartbeats.CEO John Barr called the first enrollment in the company’s Amplatzer Cardiac Plug trial “a significant milestone” for the company, according to a statement from AGA.The trial is intended [...]

Tornier Inc. is planning to test the choppy waters of Wall Street with an estimated $205 million initial public offering, according to documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.The orthopedics firm in Edina, Minn., which specializes in devices to treat injuries to extremities and small bones, is the third local medical device company in [...]

Biotech startup Tenex Health Inc. has received commitments for $1.675 million in equity of an anticipated $2 million fundraise, according to a regulatory filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.The funding, with a minimum of $25,000 per investor, comes from 26 investors, according to the document.The company in March reported that it raised $1.275 million [...]

Given Wall Street’s turmoil of late, it’s not too surprising that buyers would search for bargains, especially struggling medical device companies with promising technology and awful balance sheets. Case in point: Medtronic Inc.’s (NYSE: MDT) $370 million purchase of ATS Medical Inc. in Plymouth, Minn.But ev3 Inc. (NASDAQ: EVVV) and Virtual Radiological Corp. (NASDAQ: VRAD) [...]

Another one bites the dust.After agreeing to sell itself to Covidien PLC for $2.6 billion, ev3 Inc. (NASDAQ: EVVV) becomes the third publicly traded Minnesota device firm to be acquired in just over a month.Dublin, Ireland-based Covidien agreed to pay $22.50 per share for ev3, a 19 percent premium over the vascular device maker’s Friday [...]

Shares of AGA Medical Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: AGAM) fell more than 6 percent Tuesday after its top investor decided to divest a tenth of its holdings in the Plymouth, Minn.-based medical device maker.Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe, a private equity firm and majority owner of AGA Medical, will disburse 2.4 million shares to its individual [...]

Ernie Andberg has a little more free time on his hands these days.The long-time “emerging medical device companies” equity analyst for Feltl & Co. in Minneapolis has not seen a lot of companies emerging lately.In fact, they’ve been disappearing all together. Case in point: Medtronic Inc.’s (NYSE: MDT) deal last week to acquire ATS Medical [...]