November 18, 2011 —The Berlin Heart Group announced today that clinical trial data were presented this morning at the “Scientific Sessions 2011” annual meeting of the American Heart Association (AHA). These data showed that, in a clinical trial of children with severe heart failure who were waiting for a heart transplant, 90 percent of patients in the primary cohort of the study were successfully bridged to a heart transplant using Berlin Heart Excor pediatric ventricular assist device (VAD).

November 18, 2011 – CorMatrix Cardiovascular Inc. announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted the company full investigational device exemption (IDE) approval for its ongoing multi-center, prospective, randomized clinical trial aiming to demonstrate the safety and efficacy of the CorMatrix ECM for Pericardial Closure to reduce the incidence of new onset postoperative atrial fibrillation following isolated primary coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery. CorMatrix Cardiovascular is a medical device company dedicated to developing and delivering unique extracellular matrix (ECM) biomaterial devices that harness the body's innate ability to repair damaged cardiovascular tissue.

Medtronic and Bain Capital, a global private investment firm, today announced they have entered into a definitive agreement under which affiliates of Bain Capital will acquire Physio-Control. The stock of Physio-Control and related entities will be purchased for cash in a transaction valued at approximately $487 million.

November 16, 2011 — Non-adherence to antiplatelet therapy – which prevents blood clots following percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) – was associated with higher rates of both ischemic and bleeding events at 30 days. Results of the PARIS registry were presented at the 23rd annual Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics (TCT) scientific symposium, sponsored by the Cardiovascular Research Foundation.

November 16, 2011 — The American Society of Echocardiography (ASE) issued a response voicing concerns over the implications of a study published this week in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).

November 16, 2011 – BSP Biological Signal Processing, which develops and manufactures products for the non-invasive, accurate diagnosis of coronary artery disease (CAD), recently announced the successful completion of a comprehensive clinical research study evaluating the performance of the company’s HyperQ technology in diagnosing CAD. An article describing the study and its results was accepted for publication in the American Journal of Cardiology.

November 16, 2011 – Johnson & Johnson Pharmaceutical Research & Development announced that adding oral rivaroxaban to standard antiplatelet therapy significantly reduced the composite primary efficacy endpoint of cardiovascular-related deaths, heart attacks or strokes in patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS) compared to those receiving standard therapy alone. Results from the pivotal Phase 3 ATLAS ACS 2 TIMI 51 trial presented at the American Heart Association Scientific Sessions and published in the New England Journal of Medicine also showed that rivaroxaban significantly increased rates of major bleeding, but did not create an excess risk of fatal bleeding over standard therapy alone.