LifeTech Scientific Corporation has announced that it has extended its agreements with Medtronic to further the strategic collaboration on the HeartTone domestic pacemaker project and to start the collaboration on domestically-made MRI-conditional pacemakers. Together with MRI-conditional leads, these products will address growing MRI-related therapeutic needs in China, the company said in a press release.
The agreements also include the extension of the partnership to 2028. Similar to its collaboration on the first generation of HeartTone pacemakers, Medtronic will provide a series of specialised technical consulting services for the MRI-conditional products project.
“This collaboration between LifeTech and Medtronic represents a remarkable step forward in localising pacing products for China market”, said Xie Yuehui, chairman and CEO of LifeTech. “With Medtronic’s world-leading technology and LifeTech’s expertise in China market, plus a long-term collaboration with Medtronic in pacing products for China market, we are pretty confident and are expecting LifeTech MRI-conditional products to soon become a choice of selection by China patients with internationally advanced technology and superior quality, thereby making advanced domestic cardiac pacing therapies more accessible.”
“Medtronic and LifeTech have been partnering for nearly a decade, and in that time, we have successfully expanded access to pacemakers in China, via the HeartTone pacemaker,” said Mike Marinaro, president of Medtronic Cardiac Rhythm Management. “We are pleased to extend our collaboration by adding the development of domestically made MRI-conditional pacemakers for the Chinese market.”
LifeTech began its strategic relationship with Medtronic in pacemaker product development since 2014. In December 2017, LifeTech’s HeartTone brand implantable cardiac pacemakers were successfully launched in the Chinese market with accompanying leads and programmers. This latest collaboration will further meet the fast-growing demand for MRI-conditional cardiac pacing therapies in China, benefiting patients who suffer from bradycardia, the companies said.
