OREANDA-NEWS. Boston Scientific Corporation (NYSE: BSX) today announced a definitive agreement to acquire Symetis SA, a privately-held Swiss structural heart company focused on minimally-invasive transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) devices, for $435 million in up-front cash.

The Symetis portfolio includes the ACURATE TA™ and ACURATE neo/TF valve systems for use in the treatment of high-risk patients suffering from severe and symptomatic aortic valve stenosis, which are sold in Europe and in other geographies outside of the United States. Symetis is also developing the ACURATE neo/AS next generation valve system, currently in a clinical trial intended to serve as the basis for a future CE mark application.

This agreement to acquire Symetis follows the recent acquisition by Boston Scientific of certain Neovasc, Inc. manufacturing assets, and demonstrates the company's continued investment in structural heart through intellectual property, research and development, and manufacturing capabilities.

"The steps we are taking reflect our commitment to being a leader in TAVI and structural heart technologies now and over the long-term, as we broaden our portfolio and pipeline to address the needs of our global health care providers and their patients," said Ian Meredith, M.D., executive vice president and global chief medical officer, Boston Scientific. "The ACURATE family of valve products is strongly complementary to our cornerstone Lotus™ valve platform, and this compelling combination of technologies will allow us to provide interventional cardiologists and cardiac surgeons with multiple TAVI offerings for varying patient pathologies and anatomy."

Symetis is based in Ecublens, Switzerland, with approximately 300 employees worldwide.

"We are excited to be joining Boston Scientific," said Jacques R. Essinger, Ph.D. and CEO, Symetis. "We have great respect for the company's legacy and strong leadership in interventional cardiology, and we look forward to being part of driving further innovation across its diversified portfolio."

The acquisition is projected to close during the second quarter of 2017, subject to customary closing conditions.

On an adjusted basis, the transaction is expected to be immaterial in 2017, slightly accretive in 2018, and increasingly accretive thereafter.  The transaction is expected to be less accretive (or dilutive, as the case may be) on a GAAP basis, due to amortization expense and transaction and integration costs.

Boston Scientific will host a conference call to discuss this transaction today, Thursday, March 30, at 8:30 am EDT. The call will be hosted by Mike Mahoney, chairman and chief executive officer, Kevin Ballinger, executive vice president and president, Interventional Cardiology, and Ian Meredith, M.D., executive vice president and global chief medical officer.

Boston Scientific transforms lives through innovative medical solutions that improve the health of patients around the world. As a global medical technology leader for more than 35 years, we advance science for life by providing a broad range of high performance solutions that address unmet patient needs and reduce the cost of healthcare. 

21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. These forward-looking statements are based on our beliefs, assumptions and estimates using information available to us at the time and are not intended to be guarantees of future events or performance. These forward-looking statements include, among other things, statements regarding the closing of the acquisition, the financial and business impact of the transaction, product launches and product performance and impact. If our underlying assumptions turn out to be incorrect, or if certain risks or uncertainties materialize, actual results could vary materially from the expectations and projections expressed or implied by our forward-looking statements. These factors, in some cases, have affected and in the future (together with other factors) could affect our ability to implement our business strategy and may cause actual results to differ materially from those contemplated by the statements expressed in this press release. As a result, readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on any of our forward-looking statements.