CryoLife has announced the acquisition of Ascyrus Medical, developer of the Ascyrus Medical Dissection Stent (AMDS), an aortic arch remodelling device used for the treatment of acute Type A aortic dissections.
The addition of the AMDS to CryoLife’s product portfolio further strengthens the company’s position as a leader in the growing aortic repair market, CryoLife said in a press release. The company believes that the addition of AMDS to its product offering will present significant cross-selling opportunities with CryoLife’s existing JOTEC portfolio, BioGlue, and On-X.
“We believe the addition of the AMDS to our product offerings will make a meaningful contribution to our future growth as it gives us immediate access to the combined US$100+ million EU and Canadian markets and has the potential to expand our worldwide addressable market by approximately US$540 million,” said Pat Mackin, chairman, president, and chief executive officer of CryoLife. “AMDS is another highly differentiated device that, when included in our commercial channel, will further solidify our position as a global leader in aortic repair, as it will immediately strengthen our highly competitive product portfolio in Europe.”
Ascyrus has developed the AMDS to complement and in conjunction with, hemi-arch replacement without adding technical complexity. The design of the AMDS allows for rapid deployment of the graft in the aortic arch during a standard replacement of the ascending aorta, adding less than five minutes to the procedure time, the CryoLife press release adds. The deployment of the AMDS preserves the native arch, potentially allowing for the minimally invasive re-interventions, including the repair of additional entry tears, rather than an invasive arch repair. In the clinical trial supporting the CE mark and Health Canada approvals, the AMDS was shown to reduce mortality, complications and reoperations compared to the standard of care.
Michael Andrew Borger, professor of cardiac surgery, University of Leipzig, director of cardiac surgery, Leipzig Heart Center, Leipzig, Germany, commented: “Based on our experience with the AMDS and the published data, I believe the addition of this simple and elegant device to the standard surgical procedure for patients with acute aortic dissection will actually simplify the operation, reduce early and late complications requiring reintervention, and possibly improve survival. It is likely to become the standard of care because of its ease of adoption, simplicity, safety, and effectiveness, particularly with the sickest patients.”
