The biggest names in TAVR are sharing new data at ACC.25
Transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) grows more popular among U.S. cardiologists every year, and the country’s two biggest TAVR vendors both plan on making a splash at ACC.25, the annual meeting of the American College of Cardiology (ACC).
Medtronic and Edwards Lifesciences have made TAVR a top priority over the years. The self-expanding Evolut valves from Medtronic and balloon-expandable Sapien 3 valves from Edwards represent the two most popular TAVR platforms in the United States by a significant margin, and the two companies are constantly being compared to one another.
ACC.25, scheduled to take place March 29-31 in Chicago, will bring together thousands of cardiologists, electrophysiologists, cardiac imaging specialists, researchers, medical students and medtech representatives. Many of those attendees will be paying close attention to what Medtronic and Edwards have to offer, particularly when it comes to new advances in the world of TAVR.
What Medtronic has planned for ACC.25
Medtronic is riding a bit of momentum headed into the weekend after presenting two-year SMART data at the Cardiovascular Research Technologies (CRT) 2025 conference in Washington, D.C.
At ACC.25, one late-breaking clinical trial the company is especially excited about is its five-year update to the Evolut Low Risk Trial, which compares TAVR with an Evolut valve to surgical aortic valve replacement (SAVR) in low-risk aortic stenosis (AS) patients. Medtronic shared four-year data from the study at CRT 2024, noting that TAVR was “safe, effective and economically cost-effective.” Now, the company will be presenting five-year data during what is sure to be one of the most highly anticipated late-breakers of the entire conference. That presentation is scheduled to take place at March 30 at 10:30 a.m.
“Medtronic is poised to present the data and operational efficacy of its unique Evolut TAVR platform at the upcoming ACC annual meeting, highlighting its innovative design and outstanding performance in TAVR,” Kendra J. Grubb, MD, vice president and chief medical officer of Medtronic’s structural heart business, told Cardiovascular Business. “The Evolut platform is notably differentiated from other TAVR technologies due to its consistent evidence of superior valve performance and improved patient outcomes, supported by numerous randomized controlled trials and real-world evaluations conducted worldwide.”
These pins celebrating the SMART trial were seen on the show floor at ACC.24 in Atlanta.
What Edwards Lifesciences has planned for ACC.25
Edwards has some TAVR momentum of its own as ACC.25 approaches. On the business side of things, for example, the company has announced its plans to acquire both JenaValve and JC Medical. In addition, the Edwards-funded EARLY TAVR study, which compared early TAVR with clinical surveillance among patients with asymptomatic severe AS, made a substantial impact when its initial findings were presented at TCT 2024 in Washington, D.C.
For the ACC conference in Chicago, Edwards representatives are the most excited about three different research presentations. Two of those presentations represent detailed looks at the EARLY TAVR data, including one focused on patients who were quickly converted from clinical surveillance to TAVR over the course of the trial, and another focused on specific biomarkers in asymptomatic AS patients. The subanalysis tracking early conversions is scheduled to be presented March 31 at 11 a.m. The subanalysis about biomarkers, meanwhile, is scheduled for March 31 at 1:48 p.m.
The other late-breaking presentation Edwards is excited about will examine the impact of using electronic provider notifications to detect signs of severe AS. Could these notifications help identify more patients who would make ideal TAVR candidates? That session is scheduled to be presented March 30 at 2:15 p.m.
“At Edwards Lifesciences, we are deeply committed to transforming the future of disease management and treatment of AS,” Larry Wood, Edwards’ corporate vice president and group president of TAVR and surgical structural heart, told Cardiovascular Business. “Without treatment, one in 10 people with symptomatic severe AS may die within just five weeks. However, symptoms are challenging to detect, and new evidence shows that even in patients without symptoms, severe AS progresses rapidly and unpredictably. New data presented at ACC will provide deeper insights into the progression of severe AS and the critical importance of referring patients to a heart team for evaluation after diagnosis.”
Also at ACC.25: ‘The Future of TAVR’
In other TAVR-related news, one of the most highly anticipated sessions at ACC.25 is “The Future of TAVR,” an hour-long look at some of the many trends associated with the popular procedure. Though the session will only last 60 minutes, it is set to include several presentations and case studies that should keep general cardiologists, interventional cardiologists and other cardiology professionals thinking for quite some time.
Suzanne Baron, MD, MSc, director of interventional cardiology research at Massachusetts General Hospital, is serving as the session’s co-chair. How does she see this TAVR evolving in the years ahead?
“TAVR has revolutionized the care of the AS patient over the last decade and now surpasses SAVR as the predominant mode of AVR for the treatment of severe symptomatic AS,” Baron told Cardiovascular Business. “Due to the less invasive nature of TAVR, we now have the ability to consider the treatment of AS in patients with asymptomatic severe AS and moderate AS. The EARLY TAVR trial has already demonstrated that there was benefit in the treatment of patients with asymptomatic severe AS in the form of reducing unplanned heart failure hospitalizations. And the PROGRESS trial and EXPAND TAVR II trial are investigating the use of TAVR in patients with moderate AS. If TAVR is shown to be beneficial in these previously untreated patient populations, I believe that we could see an unprecedented advancement in care for valvular heart disease patients by potentially preventing the development of cardiac fibrosis associated with progressive AS.”
“The Future of TAVR” is scheduled for March 30 at 3:30 p.m.
Click here for more information about ACC.25, including registration details and a full schedule.
Michael has more than 18 years of experience as a professional writer and editor. He has written at length about cardiology, radiology, artificial intelligence and other key healthcare topics.