Abbott buys Topera, adds new heart-treatment market

Abbott Laboratories is moving into a new area for heart treatments with the purchase of medical device company Topera Inc.

The North Chicago company announced Wednesday it will pay $250 million for Menlo Park, California-based Topera, which makes catheters used in treating people with atrial fibrillation, a common heart rhythm disorder. Abbott might make future payments depending performance goals. The sale is expected to be completed during the fourth quarter.

Separately, Abbott said it has secured the right to buy Advanced Cardiac Therapeutics Inc., a Santa Clara, California, medical device company working on technology expected to increase the safety and effectiveness of atrial fibrillation treatments. Financial terms weren’t disclosed.

“The Topera acquisition and our agreement with ACT provide a foundational entry into the large, high-growth electrophysiology market, with differentiated technologies that can transform the way physicians treat people with complex heart rhythm disorders,” John M. Capek, Abbott’s executive vice president for medical device, said in a news release.

Abbott estimates the market for catheter-based electrophysiology treatments at $3 billion a year and growing annually at double-digit rates.

Topera’s diagnostic catheter and mapping software — or rotor identification system — helps physicians identify and target areas of the heart involved in the arrhythmia.