Galway-based medtech Vetex acquired in deal worth up to €39.6m

Galway-based Vetex Medical has been acquired in a deal valued at up to $46.9 million (€39.6 million).

Founded by Mark Bruzzi, Vetex is focused on developing a ground-breaking clot removing catheter. The buyer is Nasdaq-listed Surmodics, a US medical device coatings and in vitro diagnostics company.

Surmodics is to make an upfront payment of $39.9 million to acquire the Galway-headquartered company. Additional payments of up to $7 million – $3.5 million of which are guaranteed – are to be made upon achievement of certain product development and regulatory milestones.

Mr Bruzzi, a professor of biomedical engineering at the National University of Ireland Galway, founded Vetex in 2015. Prior to establishing the company, he founded the BioInnovate Ireland medical device innovation centre in Galway and is also co-founder of Atrian Medical, a development stage company focussed on the treatment of atrial fibrillation.

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The deal for Vetex expands Surmodics’ thrombectomy portfolio with a second US Food and Drug Administration cleared device, the company’s ReVene Thrombectomy Catheter. This device, which is specifically designed to remove large, mixed-morphology blood clots commonly found with venous thromboembolism, has already been successfully trialled in Britain.

Surmodics said it expects to initiate clinical evaluation activities for Vetex’s catheter next year ahead of a potential market launch.

Potential

"The ReVene Thrombectomy Catheter has the potential to significantly expand the use and accessibility of venous mechanical thrombectomy by allowing physicians to intervene early and complete the procedure in a single session," said Stephen Black, principal investigator and leading enroller of the Vetex feasibility study and consultant vascular surgeon at Guy's and St. Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust, London.

Vetex was one of a number of Irish companies to receive funding from the European Innovation Council last year.

The upfront payment made for the medtech firm has been funded using cash on hand and $10 million from Surmodics’ $25 million revolving credit facility.

The acquisition is expected to be accretive as of the second half of 2023, Surmodics said.