CardioMEMS

CardioMEMS was founded in 2000 in order to pursue commercial applications of micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS) developed in the laboratories of Georgia Tech and M.I.T. for use in patients with a variety of disorders including abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAA) and congestive heart failure (CHF). The CardioMEMS AAA Pressure Sensor, an implantable MEMS-based device designed to monitor pressure in the space between an endovascular graft and the arterial wall, entered its first phase of human trials in early 2003. The initiation of clinical trials for the CardioMEMS Heart Pressure Sensor, a similar product designed for surgical insertion into the left ventricle of heart failure patients, occurred shortly thereafter achieving 510k approval and obtaining the CE mark for its AAA product. A larger market opportunity is available for the company’s CHF sensor, for which the company recently received regulatory approval. In May 2014 St. Jude Medical (NYSE: STJ) acquired CardioMEMS in an all cash transaction valued at $463 million.