Medtronic's transcatheter valves to be presented at TCT 2009

With the promise of percutaneous treatments for patients with diseased heart valves growing, Medtronic, Inc. (NYSE: MDT), announced today that more presentations than ever before – at least 25 – on the company’s portfolio of unique transcatheter valves will be presented at Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics (TCT) 2009, the world’s premier annual meeting for interventional cardiologists.

Most of the new clinical data on this revolutionary medical technology at the meeting focuses on the Medtronic CoreValve® Percutaneous Aortic Valve System, which is designed to replace a diseased aortic heart valve without open-heart surgery and without surgical removal of the failed valve. The device is typically delivered through the femoral artery. Commercially available internationally, the CoreValve system is investigational in the United States.

“Following our acquisition of CoreValve in April, Medtronic has focused on taking steps to ensure that this innovative transcatheter aortic valve is available to all the patients who can benefit from it as soon as possible,” said Dr. John Liddicoat, vice president and general manager of Medtronic CardioVascular's Structural Heart business. “We are pleased that more than 5,000 patients around the world have received this groundbreaking technology so far, and we will continue to work to expand the reach of each of our transcatheter valves.” Medtronic is committed to leading the development of innovative transcatheter therapies for valvular disease in all four positions of the heart: aortic, mitral, pulmonic and tricuspid.

Use of the Medtronic CoreValve system has continued to grow over the last several months. Available in Europe since 2007, the Medtronic CoreValve system is currently used at about 200 centers across 27 countries outside the United States. With approximately 75 percent share of all percutaneous (transarterial) aortic valve replacement procedures, the Medtronic CoreValve system is the market leading percutaneous valve commercially available outside the United States.

“The self-expanding nitinol platform, such as the one utilized in the CoreValve system, is a superior technology and the platform of the future,” said Prof. Ian Meredith of Monash Medical Center in Australia. “Its innovative design enables safe, precise and controlled delivery, and enables the implanting physician to reposition or retrieve the device with ease and confidence.”

TCT’s Valvular Heart Disease Summit on Monday, Sept. 21, highlighted the successful clinical performance of the Medtronic CoreValve system. Presentation of the European/Canadian 18Fr Safety and Efficacy Study included two-year patient follow-up data, the longest of any transcatheter aortic valve, highlighting the safety, efficacy and durability of Medtronic CoreValve. Also presented were strong safety and efficacy results from the ANZ Registry, which tracks outcomes of CoreValve patients at several centers in Australia and New Zealand. In all, the summit featured 13 consecutive scientific presentations on the CoreValve system.

The TCT program also includes data presentations on Medtronic's other transcatheter valves: the Melody® transcatheter pulmonary valve, which is commercially available internationally but not yet approved in the United States; and the Ventor™ transcatheter aortic valve, which is investigational worldwide.

The Medtronic Ventor system is uniquely designed to be delivered via minimally invasive surgery through the apex of the heart. Patients with aortic stenosis who are not candidates for transfemoral delivery – sometimes because of peripheral artery disease – may be candidates for a transapical approach. The Medtronic Melody system is designed to address the effects of a dysfunctional pulmonary valve without opening the chest for surgery; it is delivered through the femoral vein.

Medtronic CardioVascular is committed to advancing the treatment of coronary, peripheral, aortic and structural heart disease through collaboration with leading clinicians, researchers and scientists worldwide.

http://www.medtronic.com/