LivaNova earns FDA approval for its artificial heart valve

LivaNova ($LIVN) now boasts both artificial heart valves to earn FDA approval in 2016. The company expects to launch the Crown PRT for the treatment of aortic valve disease in the coming months. "Crown PRT is a modern bioprosthesis enabling a simple, safe, reliable and reproducible cardiac surgery procedure for patients in need of an aortic valve replacement," said Dr. Rainald Seitelberger of Salzburg University Clinic in Austria, "Data have shown that phospholipids play an important role in the calcification process of bioprosthesis, and LivaNova's Crown PRT has proven to decrease phospholipid content in the tissue leading to superior valve longevity. Crown PRT's durability, along with its ease of use during procedures and ability to provide excellent hemodynamic performance, makes it an ideal valve for current and future aortic valve replacements." The PMA approval comes on the heels of FDA's go-ahead of the company's Perceval sutureless aortic valve. Release