January 2, 2019 — Boston Scientific Corp. exercised its option to acquire the remaining shares of Millipede Inc, a privately-held company in Santa Rosa, Calif., upon its recent successful completion of a first-in-human clinical study. The acquisition will expand the Boston Scientific Structural Heart portfolio to include the Iris Transcatheter Annuloplasty Ring System, which is in development for the treatment of patients with severe mitral regurgitation (MR) who are not able to tolerate open-heart surgery.
Boston Scientific initially entered into an investment and acquisition option agreement with Millipede in January 2018. It purchased $90 million in existing and newly-issued Millipede shares, with the option to acquire the company's remaining shares for $325 million at closing, with a $125 million payment becoming available upon achievement of a commercial milestone.
The quickly expanding transcatheter mitral repair and replacement market is estimated to reach $1 billion by 2021, with the majority comprised of repair procedures.
The Iris system uses a complete annuloplasty ring, considered the gold-standard surgical approach, to reduce the size of a dilated mitral annulus. It is delivered via a transcatheter-transseptal delivery system, and can be used as a stand-alone device, or in combination with other technologies in patients with severe MR.
The IRIS Transcatheter Annuloplasty Ring System is an investigational device and not available for sale.
For more information: www.bostonscientific.com
November 14, 2025 
