Transcatheter Based Technologies Are Set to Drive Structural Heart Devices Market

Structural heart diseases include cardiac diseases, where clinically significant defect is observed in one of the valves or chambers of heart, it is one of the major causes of serious illness and death. With significant development in medical sciences, the number of deaths due to communicable diseases has drastically reduced increasing longevity of population leading to a staggering increase in lifestyle related disorders. According to WHO, the global population of over 60 years is estimated to increase from 12% of overall population in 2015 to about 22% by 2050 increasing the number of people with some form of cardiovascular disease, which includes acquired structural heart defects such as aortic or mitral valve regurgitation and stenosis leading to death. This projected increase in old aged patient population provides an opportunity for medical devices companies specialized in treatment of structural heart defect to come up with effective therapies and treatments.

The most common corrective procedures for structural heart conditions is through open heart procedure where mechanical or tissue based prosthetic heart valves are implanted in place of defective aortic and mitral valves. Since, open heart surgery results in considerable amount of trauma and require long recovery periods it is not recommended for people who are 65 and above heightening the risk of death due to heart failure. This untreated patient group represents a significant opportunity for growth to companies in a market dominated by 6-7 players. There has been a rush among new entrants and existing players to serve the aged population through development of less traumatic yet effective treatments.

Transcatheter based technology which offers advantage such as less trauma, cost effectiveness and quick post operative recovery period has emerged as front runner in structural heart defect treatment. There are many companies offering Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement (TAVR) devices for treatment of aortic stenosis and regurgitation. It is the fastest growing segment in structural heart devices market. Some of the TAVR devices available are St.Jude Medical, inc. – Portico Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implantation System, Boston Scientific – Lotus Valve System, JenaValve Technology GmbH – JenaValve Prosthesis- 23 mm, 25 mm, 27 mm.

According to various studies, prevalence of mitral valve related conditions is estimated to be three to four times more than that of aortic valve. This factor has led to spurt in research leading to treatment and companies of various sizes small and big are allocating significant amount of monitory and scientific resources. Companies, which do not have products in this category are acquiring or funding research. For instance, Edwards Lifesciences acquired $400 million in CardiAQ, Abbott Laboratories investing close to $250 million in Tendyne Technologies and Cephea Valve Technologies. Medtronic has acquired Twelve, Inc for close to $408 million.

In coming years, technological advancements such as introduction of tissue engineering, development of polymer based heart valves, sutureless technology and 3D-printing are set to change the approach how the structural heart conditions are treated.

The major players operating in the structural heart device market are Edwards Lifesciences Corporation (U.S.), Medtronic, PLC (Ireland), St. Jude Medical (U.S.), Abbott Laboratories (U.S.), Liva Nova (U.K.), Boston Scientific Corporation (U.S.), Jenavalve GmbH (Germany), CryoLife, Inc (U.S.), Lepu Medical (China) and Braile Biomedica, Ltda (Brazil).

Some of the emerging and start ups are: Abiomed Inc., Balton Sp. z o.o., Bard Peripheral Vascular, Inc, BioVentrix, Inc, Cardiac Dimensions, Inc., Cardiokinetix Inc, Cardiosolutions, Inc, Colibri Heart Valve, LLC, Coramaze Technologies GmbH, Direct Flow Medical, Inc, Guided Delivery Systems, Inc, Heart Leaflet Technologies, Inc., HighLife Medical, InterValve, Inc, Labcor Laboratórios Ltda., Leman Cardiovascular, Lifenet Health, Inc., Medtentia International Ltd Oy, MiCardia Corporation, Micro Interventional Devices, Inc., Mitralign, Inc., MitrAssist Ltd, NaviGate Cardiac Structures Inc.

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