Covidien has announced that it has acquired Sapheon, a privately-held developer of venous disease treatments. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
Sapheon develops and manufactures the VenaSeal system, which uses a specially formulated medical adhesive to close the great saphenous vein in patients with varicose veins and chronic venous insufficiency. The procedure is performed with a minimally invasive catheter technique under ultrasound guidance in an office or outpatient setting. In many cases, patients are able to resume normal activity immediately after the procedure. Additionally, the procedure requires no tumescent anaesthesia (a technique that requires multiple injections to deliver local anaesthesia) and often results in less bruising than traditional thermal energy treatment.
“Sapheon will significantly enhance Covidien’s global peripheral vascular business by providing additional treatment options for physicians and their patients who suffer from chronic venous insufficiency,” said Brian Verrier, president, Peripheral Vascular, Covidien.
The VenaSeal system is currently approved in Canada, Europe and Hong Kong, and more than 2,000 patients have been treated with the system. Additionally, Sapheon successfully completed enrolment and follow-up of its VeCLOSE randomised pivotal clinical trial in the USA and submitted documentation to the US Food and Drug Administration in support of a premarket approval. The VenaSeal system is currently limited to investigational use in the USA.
