Brisbane-based Admedus (ASX:AHZ) has announced an exclusive distribution agreement with Canadian company CORONEO to sell its Aortic Annuloplasty Ring and a range of specialised surgical instruments for heart valve surgery in Germany and the UK.
CORONEO’s Extra-Aortic Ring is complementary to Admedus’ bio-scaffold CardioCel in the repair of aortic heart valves and will be managed and sold through Admedus’ existing sales and marketing infrastructure.
"We are very pleased to have signed this agreement with CORONEO as it expands our product portfolio in the cardiovascular space, as well as adding to our ongoing sales growth and generating increased revenue from our existing in-house resources,” said CEO, Mr Lee Rodne.
While the distribution agreement with Admedus is initially for the German and UK markets, there is the option to extend the partnership to other regions in the future.
The launch of CORONEO products in the UK and Germany is planned for April 2016, with sales expected to contribute to Admedus’ revenue this financial year, said the company.
The UK and Germany represent two of the largest heart valve markets in Europe.
“This is a very exciting partnership for CORONEO, as we continue to expand the global reach of our unique products. We believe the CORONEO range is synergistic with CardioCel and Admedus’ work in this space, as we both provide surgeons with specialised implantable devices and instruments to facilitate the repair and reconstruction of dysfunctional heart valves,” said CORONEO President and CEO, Mr Anthony Paolitto.
CORONEO’s Extra-Aortic Ring is the first annuloplasty device on the market specifically-designed to surgically repair the AORTIC valve with a proven, standardised technique.
It was developed by the company in partnership with Dr Emmanuel Lansac, the inventor of external aortic annuloplasty. Dr Lansac was the principal investigator in a large, prospective multi-centre clinical trial (CAVIAAR) comparing aortic valve repair with the Extra-Aortic Ring to aortic valve replacement with a mechanical valved-conduit (Bentall procedure).
The ring supports dystrophic aortic tissue and downsizes a dilated valve annulus in order to restore proper cusp contact to a 'leaky' valve. The ring is elastic and permits the tissues to expand about 10 per cent between diastole and systole, thus mimicking the native valve root physiology.
“Admedus is pleased to add additional products into the sales and marketing product portfolio and we will continue to look for further complementary products as the Company continues to grow,” added Mr Rodne.