St. Jude Medical, a healthcare device manufacturer based in St. Paul, Minnesota, received CE Mark approval from the European Union (EU) for its its transcatheter aortic heart valve system. The company’s Portico transcatheter aortic heart valve system levels the market between St. Jude and its rivals Medtronic and Edwards Lifesciences.

According to a press release by the company, the Portico transcatheter aortic heart valve system is the only 23 millimeter TAVI device currently on the market that can be quickly and easily repositioned to minimize the risk of paravalvular leakage. Paravalvular leakage is a common problem with older TAVI valves. These inferior valve systems can be found on current product lines like CoreValve by Medtronic and Sapien by Edwards Lifesciences.

Frank Callaghan is the president of St. Jude Medical’s ablation and cardiovascular technologies. In a prepared statement, he said, "The European approval of the Portico transcatheter valve signals the imminent availability of a next-generation treatment option that can help improve quality of life for patients with diseased or damaged aortic heart valves." He continued, "It also represents a key milestone for St. Jude Medical's transcatheter heart valve program."

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