German ban on Medtronic TAVI begins today, Edwards makes room for ‘compassionate cases’

Transcatheter aortic valve implantation systems maker Edwards Lifesciences touts a German legal win forcing rival device maker Medtronic to pull its TAVI systems off the market, starting today.

Starting today, medical device giant Medtronic (NYSE:MDT) is banned from selling its CoreValve and CoreValve Evolut transcatheter aortic valve implantation systems in Germany, thanks to a court ruling in favor of rival device maker Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE:EW).

However, Edwards is making some concessions to leave room for physicians to purchase Medtronic devices “where the Edwards SAPIEN XT valve is not indicated, subject to Medtronic’s cooperation,” according to a company statement.