Masterminds of Ardian: An Interview With Inventors Mark Gelfand and Howard Levin

Start-Up interviews the inventors behind Ardian, the object of one of the highest priced venture capital-backed medical device acquisitions, and between them, five other medical device companies. The team uniquely brings a perspective of applied physiology, and the integration of systems, to the goal of device innovation. In CHF Solutions, they've addressed heart failure with a device from nephrology, in Cardiac Conetps, heart failure by way of a neurological approach to sleep apnea, and in Ardian, hypertension, by studying the functioning of the kidney.

By Mary Stuart

The acquisition of Ardian Inc. by Medtronic PLC announced in November was, by many measures, remarkable. [See Deal] Medtronic offered $800 million for the 89% of the company that it didn't already own, with a potential upside of $500 million more in milestone payments. The price was one of highest ever paid for a venture capital-backed medical device company, all the more surprising since Ardian's technology is still at the pre-commercialization stage

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