DUBLIN - September 28, 2015 - Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT) today announced it has acquired Lazarus Effect, a Campbell, Calif.-based and privately-held medical device company focused on acute ischemic stroke products that facilitate the capture and removal of clots. The acquisition is another example of the company's commitment to its key growth strategy of therapy innovation.

The Lazarus Effect acquisition by Medtronic is an all-cash transaction of $100 million at closing.

"With this acquisition, Medtronic reinforces its commitment to providing innovative solutions to clinicians and patients fighting stroke," said Brett Wall, president of the Neurovascular division, which is part of the Restorative Therapies Group at Medtronic. "Lazarus Effect's 'mesh cover' technology complements our ischemic stroke portfolio, and further enhances our Neurovascular business's ability to deliver next generation technologies."

The Lazarus CoverTM Cover(TM) device is an innovative differentiating technology that is complementary to Medtronic's Solitaire(TM) stent retriever platform. This technology is designed to address clinical needs with a novel nitinol "mesh cover" that folds over a stent retriever device during clot retrieval and "candy wraps" the stent with the clot inside.

"Medtronic has been a significant supporter of the recent clinical work showing improved outcomes of ischemic stroke patients treated with endovascular therapy. Their support of data driven clinical evidence and the success with their SolitaireTM stent retriever device make them the clear market leader for treating ischemic stroke. Lazarus Effect is pleased to bring our innovative technologies together with Medtronic's market leading therapies," said Martin Dieck, Co-Founder, President & CEO, Lazarus Effect. "We look forward to working closely with Medtronic to bring this next generation platform forward to the benefit of future patients."

Recently, the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association (AHA/ASA) published new stroke treatment guidelines that recommend the use of stent retriever technology - such as Medtronic's Solitaire stent retriever device - in conjunction with the current standard of care, IV-tPA for eligible patients. The AHA/ASA guidelines are based on a panel of experts' analysis of the results from five global clinical trials published in The New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) that found the addition of stent retriever technology, a surgical procedure that manually removes blood clots from the brain, to current medical therapy such as IV-tPA, has a therapeutic benefit over medical therapy alone. The primary stent retriever studied in the five global trials was the Solitaire stent retriever device.

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