Sorin Group, an Italy-based cardiac device maker, has invested €4.2m ($6m) in HighLife, an early-stage company focused on the development of a transcatheter mitral valve replacement system, with an option to buy the France-based start-up.
The HighLife deal is seen by Sorin as a complement to its investment in Cardiosolutions, which is developing an innovative percutaneous mitral repair system.
André-Michel Ballester, chief executive of Sorin, said: “The HighLife investment is an important step forward in our long-term plan to build a significant new growth platform in percutaneous mitral valve therapies.”
Georg Börtlein, co-founder and chief operating officer at CoreValve, co-founded HighLife in 2010 and said “Together, we look forward to developing a unique and less invasive solution for patients suffering from mitral regurgitation.”
The deal follows Sorin’s purchase of Neurotech, a Belgium-based developer of neurostimulation devices spun off from the Université catholique de Louvain and has been funded by SOPARTEC, the technology transfer company of Université catholique de Louvain, Vives Louvain Technology Fund and SRIW Techno (Société Régionale d’Investissement de Wallonie).