Boston Scientific Corp. plans to acquire the remaining 90% of SoniVie for an upfront payment of approximately $360 million. It currently holds an equity stake of approximately 10%. An additional $180 million will be paid upon achievement of a regulatory milestone.

SoniVie’s investigational technology was developed to denervate nerves surrounding blood vessels to treat a variety of hypertensive disorders, including renal artery denervation (RDN) for hypertension. The TIVUS Intravascular Ultrasound System is designed to perform RDN to help reduce activity in the kidney’s renal nerves and serve as an alternative or adjunctive therapy to medications to help regulate blood pressure. Last year, the company announced positive efficacy data from an IDE pilot trial of the TIVUS system in the U.S. and Israel. The company recently initiated the THRIVE global IDE pivotal trial of the device.

“Renal denervation for hypertension is an exciting medical advancement for the millions of patients it may help and is supported by positive results from contemporary clinical trials and ongoing research,” said Lance Bates, senior vice president and president, Interventional Cardiology Therapies, Boston Scientific. “We believe the addition of the differentiated, ultrasound-based TIVUS system can complement our expansive interventional portfolio with a minimally invasive therapy for patients with hypertension and provides opportunity for future advancements in this space.”

The catheter-based TIVUS system generates precise ultrasound energy that passes through the blood and into renal arteries supplying blood to the kidneys without anchoring to the artery wall, which allows for continual blood flow to cool the treatment area. This energy is designed to heat and ablate the bundles of nerves outside the arteries, stopping their ability to pass signals and reducing the sympathetic hormones released from the nerves. As a result, the blood vessels relax and the pressure within them is reduced.

Compared to radiofrequency energy, ultrasound energy has the potential to penetrate the tissue more deeply, which may result in faster procedures with effective nerve ablation.

The transaction is anticipated to close within the first half of 2025.