Medtronic to Collaborate With Sanford Health to Develop TAAA Stent Graft

April 14, 2015—Medtronic plc and Sanford Health, the South Dakota-based healthcare system, announced plans to develop a stent graft system for the endovascular treatment of thoracoabdominal aortic aneurysms (TAAAs) under an exclusive patent license agreement. Sanford Health vascular surgeon Patrick Kelly, MD, developed the concept for the novel system and collaborated with Medtronic to manufacture devices based on the concept. The system was recently described in the Journal of Vascular Surgery (2014;60:1177–1184). 

Dr. Kelly has sponsored the Visceral Manifold Study for the Repair of TAAAs that was approved under an investigational device exemption by the US Food and Drug Administration. In February, Sanford Health announced the beginning of enrollment in the study.

Sanford Health holds the intellectual property covered by the exclusive patent license agreement with Medtronic. Medtronic plans to study the system in collaboration with physicians at several medical centers, including Dr. Kelly at Sanford Health, starting in the near future. Medtronic will commercialize the device after obtaining the required regulatory approvals.

In the press release from Medtronic and Sanford Health, Dr. Kelly commented, “Taking the complex and making it simple has long been our goal for the treatment of TAAAs. Working with Medtronic could eventually place our solution in the hands of vascular surgeons around the world to help patients facing a life-threatening condition. We hope that this will have a major impact on the treatment of one of the most challenging disease processes to face our specialty.” 

Daveen Chopra, vice president and general manager of the Aortic franchise at Medtronic, stated, "We're very excited to be working with Dr. Kelly and Sanford Health to develop a standardized stent graft system to address the clinical challenges of repairing TAAAs. The exclusive patent license agreement that we've entered into with Sanford Health is a further demonstration of how Medtronic collaborates with physicians to foster innovation and develop new therapies that lead to better patient care."