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| Volcano has acquired the rights to Medtronic's Pioneer Plus.--Courtesy of Medtronic |
Volcano ($VOLC) already casts a long shadow in the intravascular imaging world, and now the company is getting a little help from a rival, buying one of Medtronic's ($MDT) diagnostic catheters to augment its peripheral offerings.
The San Diego-headquartered Volcano has signed an agreement to trade an undisclosed sum for the rights to Medtronic's Pioneer Plus, which functions as an ultrasound transducer and percutaneous catheter. The device is FDA-cleared and CE marked, Volcano said, and its use in peripheral arteries dovetails with the company's many intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) products.
Volcano has long profited from its IVUS and fractional flow reserve (FFR) technologies, which help diagnose lesions and guide vascular interventions, but snapping up a percutaneous catheter will help the company cut out a middleman, CEO Scott Huennekens said.
"We have been providing our IVUS technology in combination with the Pioneer Plus for many years," Huennekens said in a statement. "Being able to now offer this device within Volcano's already broad portfolio of products will serve our strategy of increasing our presence in the diagnosis and treatment of peripheral arterial disease. It also furthers our continued evolution from purely a diagnostic company to one that offers a wide range of diagnostic and therapeutic devices."
The company gets most of its cash from devices designed for coronary procedures, and Huennekens said a pillar of Volcano's growth strategy is deepening its stake of the peripheral market. That's where Pioneer Plus comes in, joining the company's on-the-market Valet microcatheter and Eagle Eye Platinum IVUS catheter, both used to treat peripheral lesions.
Last quarter, Volcano hauled in $101.3 million in revenue, a 6% jump over the same period last year, thanks largely to a 25% increase in FFR sales.
- read the announcement