Abbott's Upgraded TriClip Heart Valve System OK'd In Europe

Abbott Laboratories ABT won European approval for the latest generation of its TriClip system, a transcatheter-based repair device designed to stem leaks in the heart’s tricuspid valve.
The tricuspid valve opens and closes a set of three flaps rather than two. Because of that complexity, patients with tricuspid valve problems have had fewer treatment options.
The company’s MitraClip helped treat mitral regurgitation, or the blood’s backflow through the valve with each heartbeat.
The upgraded TriClip works in the same way, but now it allows clinicians to tailor the procedure to each patient’s valve using a range of four sizes to hold together a portion of its flaps.
It also includes a new, steerable delivery system that lets surgeons independently grasp leaflets before fastening.
The CE mark for the new version, dubbed TriClip G4, comes one year after it was first approved in Europe. It also recently received Canadian approval, but the device has not yet been approved in the U.S.
Price Action: ABT shares are down 0.13% at $119.95 during market trading hours on the last check Thursday.