Sorin Group Announces U.S. Launch of New Heart Device for Simultaneous Implantation of an Aortic Tissue Valve and Ascending Aorta

Sorin’s Mitroflow Valsalva Conduit allows for safer device manipulation during assembly and implantation, thus limiting cardiac surgery time

Sorin Group, (Reuters Code: SORN.MI), a global medical device company and a leader in the treatment of cardiovascular diseases, announced today the U.S. commercial launch of the Mitroflow Valsalva Conduit^TM , the only Valsalva conduit graft approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for use in combination with an aortic tissue valve.

Previously available only with mechanical valves, Sorin Group’s innovative Mitroflow Valsalva Conduit now offers cardiac surgeons a solution for replacing simultaneously the ascending aorta and the diseased aortic valve with Sorin’s highly durable Mitroflow^TM pericardial aortic valve.

The Mitroflow Aortic Pericardial Heart Valve has consistently demonstrated excellent hemodynamic performance, ease of implant and proven durability. Introduced in Europe in 1982 and U.S. FDA cleared in 2007, the Mitroflow valve is supported by 21 years of published long-term durability and demonstrates outstanding performance in patients under 60 years of age.^{1, 2}

In addition to limiting the bypass, cross-clamp and procedural time, and reducing potential risks for the patient, the Mitroflow Valsalva Conduit also replicates the native sinus thereby preserving the patient’s physiological hemodynamics and obviating the need for lifelong anticoagulation treatment. The Mitroflow Valsalva Conduit graft is impregnated with absorbable bovine cross-linked gelatine, thus eliminating the need for preclotting.

“The Mitroflow Valsalva Conduit offers the surgeons a convenient way to connect the Mitroflow valve to a clinically proven aortic graft at point of use in the operating room, allowing a quick and effective assembly of the Mitroflow valve”, said Wilson Szeto, M.D., Associate Professor of Cardiac Surgery, University of Pennsylvania Medical Center, Penn Presbytarian Medical Center.

“The Mitroflow Valsalva Conduit launch represents our continued commitment to innovation and enhances our tissue heart valve portfolio in the U.S.," said André-Michel Ballester, CEO, Sorin Group.

1. Yankah, et al. Aortic valve replacement with the Mitroflow pericardial bioprosthesis: Durability results up to 21 years. J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg . 2008;136:688-696.

2. Yankah, C. Mitroflow pericardial aortic bioprosthesis in patients younger than 60 years. J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg . 2010;140: e83-4.6.

About Sorin Group

Sorin Group (www.sorin.com ) is a global, medical device company and a leader in the treatment of cardiovascular diseases. The Company develops, manufactures and markets medical technologies for cardiac surgery and for the treatment of cardiac rhythm disorders. With 3,750 employees worldwide, Sorin Group focuses on three major therapeutic areas: cardiopulmonary bypass (extracorporeal circulation and autotransfusion systems), cardiac rhythm management and heart valve repair and replacement. Every year, over one million patients are treated with Sorin Group devices in more than 80 countries.

Contact:

Sorin Group
Director, Corporate Communications
Martine Konorski , +33 (0)1 46 01 33 78
Mobile: +33 (0)6 76 12 67 73
martine.konorski@sorin.com
or
Director, Investor Relations
Francesca Rambaudi , +39 02 69969716
investor.relations@sorin.com
www.sorin.com