Lombard Medical announced on 30 July 2015 the acquisition of Silicon Valley-based Altura Medical, a privately-held, venture-backed company that has developed an innovative ultra-low profile endovascular stent graft technology that, according to Lombard, offers a simple and predictable solution for the treatment of standard abdominal aortic aneurysm anatomies.
The terms of the transaction include the issuance of US$15 million of Lombard common stock at US$4 per share (3,750,000 shares of Lombard common stock subject to certain lock up conditions), the assumption of US$5.5 million in bank debt and US$2.5 million in certain liabilities and transaction-related costs.
In addition, up to US$27.5 million may be paid based on the achievement of certain commercial and regulatory milestones anticipated over the next five years. Under the terms of the agreement, Lombard has the option to pay the additional consideration in either cash or stock.
The Altura endograft system received the CE mark in 2015 and Lombard plans to launch the device in Europe in January 2016 with a broader international roll out later the same year. In the USA, Lombard intends to file for an investigational device exemption (IDE) from the FDA in early 2016 with the intent to begin recruitment for a US clinical study later in 2016.
Lombard CEO Simon Hubbert said, “The acquisition of Altura and the launch of its new abdominal aortic aneurysm stent graft will provide a near-term and substantial increase in revenues. In fact, we believe this innovative technology could account for up to 20% of our 2016 total revenue. The combination of Altura’s technology with our flagship Aorfix platform creates a truly patient driven platform that we believe will allow us to capture share from our competitors. The Altura device offers a simple, safe and efficient treatment option for standard abdominal aortic aneurysm anatomy, while Aorfix offers the only on-label solution for patients with Aortic neck angulation up to 90 degrees.”
“The Altura device offers a new ultra-low profile stent graft system without compromising the robustness and durability of the wire and graft fabric,” said Dierk Scheinert, chairman of the Division of Interventional Angiology, University Hospital Leipzig, Germany. Noting that, “The added benefits of this smart system are the ability to reposition during deployment and place each graft accurately to each renal artery enabling physicians to utilise all the available aortic neck. It also removes the need for cannulation and therefore provides a simple, intuitive, safe and consistent deployment system with predictable and shorter procedure times.”
“Many patients who present for abdominal aortic aneurysm repair can be treated quickly and efficiently with minimal hospital stay and recovery times,” said Stuart A Harlin, board certified vascular surgeon, Coastal Vascular & Interventional, Pensacola, USA. “The introduction of an easy-to-deploy abdominal aortic aneurysm stent graft that offers enhanced safety and accuracy on an ultra-low profile delivery system will allow physicians to treat a large percentage of abdominal aortic aneurysm patients more efficiently in the future.”
The development of Altura’s highly differentiated technology was led by experienced technologists and supported by a prestigious syndicate of venture capital investors, including SV Life Sciences, New Leaf Ventures and Advanced Technology Ventures. Andrew Cragg, a prolific physician inventor, entrepreneur and a principal at Intersect Partners, initially conceived the Altura abdominal aortic aneurysm endograft technology.
