After the sale of its atrial fibrillation-focused startup to Boston Scientific earlier this year, Ajax Health and KKR are teaming up with the medtech once more to launch a new venture aimed at treating heart failure.
FlowMod will work to mature technologies first developed at Boston Scientific, with plans to carry it through clinical validation and future regulatory approval, and supported by financing from KKR.
The new startup will be led by CEO Philippe Marco, who was previously president and chief operations officer of Epix Therapeutics and CV Ingenuity—two Ajax-backed cardiovascular companies that were acquired by Medtronic (in 2019) and Covidien (in 2013), respectively.
“I am excited to work with the Ajax Health and KKR leadership teams again,” Marco said in a statement. “We look forward to developing a meaningful advancement in the treatment of patients with heart failure, building upon the foundation established by Boston Scientific.”
Ajax previously incubated the afib developer Cortex, which debuted in late 2023 with $90 million and a plan to build an integrated cardiac mapping and pulsed field ablation platform. It obtained an FDA clearance for its OptiMap system, including a basket-shaped catheter studded with 64 electrodes and real-time guidance.
That company was bought by Boston Scientific in late January for $248 million in cash upfront, plus up to about $50 million in payments tied to future regulatory milestones.