A $1-million Ohio Third Frontier award will help West Chester-based AtriCure develop and bring to market a next-generation version of its successful AtriClip.
The left atrial appendage is a saclike part of the heart that has internal peaks and valleys. During atrial fibrillation -- an abnormal rhythm of the heart -- the appendage can pool with blood, causing clots that can migrate to the brain and cause strokes.
The Gillinov-Cosgrove Left Atrial Appendage Exclusion system, which the FDA approved last year for use in open-heart procedures, is designed as a more effective way to close blood flow between the appendage and the atria, thus eliminating the possibility of clots forming there.
“Today, the clip is approved to be used during the open heart procedure,” says Julie Piton, VP Finance and Chief Financial Officer. The Third Frontier award will help fund development of a minimally invasive version of the device.
AtriCure was formed in 2000 to commercialize and market products developed by Enable Medical Technologies. In August 2005, AtriCure went public and subsequently purchased Enable.
Since then, the company has become a leading medical device company in cardiac surgical ablation systems and systems for the exclusion of the left atrial appendage. Cardiac ablation procedures are used to destroy small areas of the heart that may be cause abnormal heart rhythms.
The company boasted record revenues of $16.8 for the second quarter, with strong growth in international markets. Piton says the company has about 235 employees and has added about 10 in the last year.
Looking ahead, she says the company is poised to become “the first surgical company to get an atrial fibrillation indication” from the FDA.
What that means is that, if approved by the FDA, the company will be able to market its ablation products as a treatment for atrial fibrillation. Currently, they can only be marketed for the ablation of cardiac tissue.
“The only reason you would ablate cardiac tissue is to treat atrial fibrillation,” she says. “But we can’t market our outcomes and we can’t talk to physicians about atrial fibrillation, we can only talk about the technical attributes of our products.”
Source: Julie Piton, AtriCure
Writer: Gene Monteith