Recently, the American medical device giant Edwards Lifesciences announced the completion of the acquisition of Innovalve Bio Medical (hereinafter referred to as Innovalve), a spin-off from the Sheba Medical Center in Israel, for $300 million in cash. The acquisition plan is expected to be completed by the end of 2024, at which time Innovalve will be integrated into Edwards Lifesciences' Transcatheter Mitral and Tricuspid Valve Therapies (TMVT) 'product group, a news that has attracted widespread attention in the biomedical field. 
 

Innovalve is a startup company incubated from the Sheba Medical Center in Israel, specializing in the development of catheter-delivered heart valve treatments. Innovalve was founded by Professor Ehud Ra'anani and Dr. Boris Orlov of the Sheba Medical Center at the Sheba Medical Center. 

Professor Shlomo Noy, one of the partners of GIBF, served as the chairman of the company from 2012 to 2018 and is still a director of the Sheba Hospital in the company. During his tenure as a senior executive at Innovalve, Professor Shlomo Noy used his rich industry experience and resources to provide guidance for the company's strategic development and financing, and helped the company establish a wide range of cooperative relationships, promoting the development and market promotion of technology. 

In an interview following the announcement of the acquisition plan by Edwards Lifesciences, the company's founder, Professor Ehud Ra'anani, mentioned, "Fortunately, thanks to the unique incubation model of the Sheba Medical Center, Innovalve was able to establish the company under the leadership of Professor Shlomo Noy, the Vice President of Research and Development at the Sheba Medical Center. This model allows the hospital to gain considerable benefits from this merger. The part of the income attributed to the hospital will be used for patient care and the development of more other technologies, ultimately benefiting the patients."

The company has developed a minimally invasive catheter that can replace the diseased mitral valve through minimally invasive surgery, thus avoiding the traditional complex open-chest surgery. In 2021, Innovalve completed the development of its system. After obtaining the necessary approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the company began preliminary clinical trials. To date, more than 40 implant surgeries have been performed in top hospitals around the world.
 

The heart after the installation of Innovalve (Image source: Innovalve)

TMVR developed in Israel (TMVR) (Image source: Innovalve)

*Edwards Lifesciences (EW) is an American medical device company specializing in solutions for heart disease patients, with a current market value of about $40 billion.