USA — Acutus Medical has reached the first milestone in its asset purchase agreement with Medtronic for its left-heart access portfolio.

Medtronic will pay Acutus a US$20 million earnout payment, allowing Acutus to become an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) for Medtronic.

Furthermore, Acutus will continue to sell its left-heart access portfolio until Medtronic takes over commercial distribution.

Acutus completed the first closing of its previously announced sale of the company’s left-heart access portfolio to Medtronic on June 30, 2022.

The device portfolio includes the AcQCross septal crossing devices, the AcQGuide MINI sheath and integrated crossing device, the AcQGuide FLEX Steerable Introducer with integrated crossing device, and the AcQGuide VUE steerable sheath.

According to the terms of the agreement, Medtronic paid Acutus US$50 million in cash at the first closing for intellectual property rights to the company’s left-heart access portfolio and certain equipment used in the manufacturing of these products.

Furthermore, with OEM qualification, Acutus has now completed the first major milestone in this transaction, bringing in gross proceeds of US$20 million.

Acutus is also eligible for additional milestone payments associated with certain regulatory activities, as well as revenue-based earnouts for the next four years.

In separate developments, Medtronic intends to spin off two of its smaller businesses into a new company within the next 18 months.in order to streamline its portfolio and accelerate revenue growth.

Despite the fact that the two businesses – patient monitoring and respiratory interventions – are relatively small, Medtronic’s management stated that the spin-off was part of the company’s ongoing restructuring.

The patient monitoring technology portfolio includes Nellcor pulse oximetry and BIS brain monitoring, while the respiratory interventions business comprises ventilators and breathing systems.

Companies based in the United States, such as Johnson & Johnson General Electric, and 3M, for example, have been breaking up their businesses in response to a growing consensus that streamlined focus performs best, as well as increasing pressure from activist investors to increase shareholder returns.

Medtronic’s auto-adjusting insulin pump lands Canadian nod

Farther afield, Medtronic Canada has announced that Health Canada has approved the MiniMed 780G insulin pump system for use by people with type 1 diabetes.

The system is approved for the treatment of type 1 diabetes in people aged seven to 80 years old who require a total daily insulin dose of eight units or more.

The MiniMed 780G system was designed by the medical technology company using its advanced SmartGuard technology to prevent highs and lows in insulin delivery.

It enables users to tailor glucose delivery by lowering the setting to 5.5 mmol/L, which is lower than any other advanced hybrid closed loop (AHCL) system.

The system also allows patients to stabilize their blood sugar levels and reduces the need for injections by up to 96% for those who use insulin pens alone.

According to Medtronic, the MiniMed 780G system with an advanced hybrid closed loop is the first and only insulin pump system in Canada that can automatically adjust every five minutes.

Medtronic Canada would allow the customers with existing MiniMed 770G insulin pumps to upgrade through a software update in the coming months, with plans to commercially launch the MiniMed 780G system hardware pump in 2023.

For all the latest healthcare industry news from Africa and the World, subscribe to our NEWSLETTER, and YouTube Channel, follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn, and like us on Facebook.