Johnson & Johnson to Acquire Israeli Medtech Firm V-Wave for Up to $1.7 Bn

Johnson & Johnson had previously invested in V-Wave in 2016, signaling a long-standing interest in the company's innovative technologies.

Johnson & Johnson has announced its agreement to acquire V-Wave, an Israeli medical device company specializing in advanced heart failure technologies, for an upfront payment of $600 million.

The deal, which could ultimately reach a total value of $1.7 billion, includes potential additional payments of $1.1 billion contingent on the achievement of specific regulatory and commercial milestones.

Upon completion of the acquisition, V-Wave will be integrated into Johnson & Johnson MedTech, further expanding the company’s cardiovascular care portfolio.

Johnson & Johnson had previously invested in V-Wave in 2016, signaling a long-standing interest in the company's innovative technologies.

“We are excited to welcome V-Wave to Johnson & Johnson MedTech and to take another meaningful step toward transforming the standard of care for cardiovascular disease. We recognize the importance of identifying more diverse and effective treatments for heart failure, and our recent track record demonstrates our focus on accelerating our impact on the most urgent and pressing unmet needs,” said Tim Schmid, Executive VP and Worldwide Chairman of Johnson & Johnson MedTech, in a statement.

V-Wave’s Ventura Device

V-Wave has garnered significant attention for its Ventura Interatrial Shunt System, a small, implantable device designed to alleviate pressure on the left atrium and lungs in patients with heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF).

The device features a nitinol hourglass-shaped frame that securely anchors to the patient’s fossa ovalis, preventing migration or embolization. It is implanted through an interventional procedure guided by fluoroscopy and echocardiography.

The Ventura device was the subject of the first late-breaking clinical trial presented at ACC.24, the annual meeting of the American College of Cardiology.

The trial, known as RELIEVE-HF, was led by Gregg Stone, MD, a Professor of cardiology and population health sciences at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.

The randomized trial evaluated the safety and effectiveness of the device in over 500 heart failure patients, with participants either receiving the device or undergoing a placebo procedure.

After a median follow-up period of 22 months, the trial results indicated that the device was safe and provided significant benefits for patients with HFrEF.

However, patients with heart failure with preserved ejection fraction did not experience the same level of benefit. Dr Stone described the impact on HFrEF patients as “very, very positive.”

While the Ventura Interatrial Shunt System has not yet received full approval from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), it was granted the FDA’s breakthrough device designation in 2019.

This designation suggests that the FDA has been actively assisting V-Wave in navigating the approval process, potentially accelerating the device’s path to market.