Make-in-India heart valve to benefit millions

new delhi — In line with the Make in India initiative, global medical device maker Meril Life Sciences on Saturday launched its first indigenously designed and manufactured artificial aortic valve for patients who are at a high risk or unwilling to undergo open heart valve replacement surgery.

The Transcatheter Aortic Heart Valve Replacement (TAVR), which will be sold under the brand name Myval, is a minimally invasive procedure in which the doctor places a artificial valve into the patient’s diseased valve via a catheter inserted through the femoral artery (large artery in groin).

It is an alternative way to replace diseased valves without undergoing traditional open heart procedure, which some patients may not receive well. “Meril is the first Indian company to commercially make this therapy available in the country. Through the commercialisation of this technology, Meril will soon bring the next generation treatment modality to thousands of patients across the country and globally,” said Sanjeev Bhatt, VP Corporate Strategy, Meril Life Sciences.

TAVR has been dominated by USbased medical devices makers Medtronics and Edwards Lifesciences. “The novel Myval technology is associated with zero new pacemaker implantation rates post procedure (which is an important benefit for the patient already treated for valve replacement),” Bhatt said. “Keeping healthcare for all in mind, the price of the technology will be well within the range,” he added.

The approval is based on successful results from a clinical trial done in India, involving 14 hospitals — Fortis and Medanta-The Medicity and Eternal Hospital, Jaipur, to name a few, Bhatt said.

“The first patient to receive Myval has completed 1.5 years and is living a symptom-free productive life. The

valve was effective in relieving the patient’s symptoms and reducing the death and hospitalisation from the aortic stenosis,” according to Ravinder Singh Rao, Interventional Cardiologist at Eternal. “Myval TAVR technology will be a boon for millions of patients suffering from aortic stenosis,” Rao said. —