Valgen Medtech and Venus Medtech reached a consensus on signing a letter of intent for exclusive cooperation on strategic marketing to speed up the promotion of techniques for diagnosis and treatment of valvular heart disease (VHD) in China

November 22, 2023 -- Venus MedTech (Hangzhou) Inc. (Venus Medtech) and Hangzhou Valgen Medtech Co., Ltd. (Valgen Medtech) reached a consensus on signing a letter of intent for exclusive cooperation on strategic marketing for the Valgen Medtech DragonFly™ Transcatheter Mitral Valve Repair System (DF).

The parties will launch an in-depth commercial cooperation after marketing approval by the DF. Valgen Medtech will take full advantage of Venus Medtech's marketing network, built over the years and covering nearly 500 tertiary hospitals, with ideal market accession channels, and robust clinical technology training systems, and other excellent foundations for the exclusive commercial cooperation. This indicates that Venus Medtech will, after its successful promotion of the application of the TAVR surgical method in China, promote the spread of the transcatheter mitral valve edge-to-edge repair technique featuring more advanced clinical training requirements and more complicated operations in China. The parties will form a partnership and they firmly believe this cooperation will promote the business development of valvular heart disease (VHD) diagnosis and treatment in China and lay down a solid foundation for the construction of an integrated platform for the diagnosis and treatment of structural heart disease in China in the future.

A retrospective development course of TAVR in China: The first implantation of TAVR in China was done with an imported product of a foreign brand in 2010. The first Chinese TAVR was granted marketing approval in 2017. The number of commercial TAVR products implanted in 2022 was less than 8,000 and the cumulative number of commercial TAVR products implanted so far is less than 20,000. The major bottlenecks we are facing that restrict the development of TAVR include: The lack of an adequate number of surgeons who have mastered this advanced technique, the absence of effective knowledge the disease among surgeons and patients, the shortage of means for improving patients' ability to pay for the treatment (e.g., medical insurance, etc.), and the complicated and troublesome market accession process which prevents patients from benefiting from this new technique in the near future. To take the lead in the field of TAVR in China by leading innovative technology, we must abandon the zero-sum game mentality which is prevalent in conventional substitution with imports. Venus Medtech, as a leading Chinese company in the field of heart valve minimally-invasive intervention, has been focusing more on market development and expansion. In light of the intention of this strategic marketing cooperation, the parties will, in line with their shared goals and expectations, form a partnership to solve the challenges confronting the promotion and spread of the innovative technique in order to popularize this valvular heart disease (VHD) intervention technique in China.

So far, Venus Medtech has completed more than 15,000 implantations. Through this cooperation, Valgen Medtech will take advantage of resources accumulated and draw on the marketing experience gained by Venus Medtech in TAVR promotion for the exploration of more innovative value-added services to further speed up the expansion of the mitral valve device market and take the lead in the field of mitral valve treatment to bring benefits to more and more Chinese patients.