Ovalis' Reverse Spin
This article was originally published in Start Up
Executive Summary
Most small companies grow for a while and then sell off to a larger acquiror. Ovalis, an intriguing start-up in the PFO space, has reversed the process, beginning as part of Abbott Laboratories' Abbott Vascular Division before being spun off as an independent company.
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Coherex Medical Inc.
These are tough times for companies developing PFO closure devices. Various energy-based approaches have hit the rocks, and clinical trial enrollment difficulties have derailed others. Coherex Medical hopes for better results with technology that it describes as safe, user-friendly, and more effective than competing technologies. The company's FlatStent PFO closure system combines a self-expanding stent with tissue growth materials, and a design that provides multiple means to close the PFO and thus boost the chances for long-term success.
Occlutech: Fighting IP Wars in PFOs
For most small device companies, the threat of IP litigation sends chills through senior management. But for PFO start-up, its current battle with AGA Medical can only help, say company officials, by establishing the bona fides of its technology in a crowded space.
Abbott Vascular: The Now-Ready-For-Prime-Time Player
Four years ago, lured into a mainstream cardiovascular business by the promise of drug-eluting stents, Abbott set about revamping its medical products business in an effort to create a device business that would rival its pharmaceutical business in financial returns. What was at first a niche strategy, aimed at bringing small, but interesting technologies to interventionalists, has become a more broad-based play that, company officials hope, will place them among the leaders in vascular devices.