Ablation catheter maker sells for $170 million

St. Jude paid $170 million to acquire a Swiss company that specializes in force-sensing ablation catheters.

St. Jude announced that it is expanding its electrophysiology portfolio with the purchase of Endosense SA, a company in Geneva that developed a method using contact-force measurement in catheter ablation. St. Jude paid $170 million (159 million Swiss francs) and Endosense will receive up to an additional $161 million (150 million Swiss francs) if it achieves a regulatory milestone within a designated timeframe.  

Endosense’s TactiCath irrigated ablation catheter received CE mark in Europe for atrial fibrillation and supra ventricular tachycardia ablation, and has been studied in a trial in the U.S. under an investigational device exemption.

St. Paul-based St. Jude said it planned to submit a pre-market approval application with the FDA for paroxysmal atrial fibrillation by the end of the year.