Jaguar LAA, a new company formed and financed by Sante Ventures, has bought the assets of the Laminar left atrial appendage program from Johnson & Johnson. Terms were not disclosed. The announcement went out September 11 from Santa Rosa, California.
J&J MedTech bought Laminar outright on November 30, 2023, paying $400 million upfront plus clinical and regulatory milestones. Laminar had just won FDA approval to begin its US trial. Less than three years later the program is out of the building.
The device closes the appendage by rotational motion and leaves little implant material exposed inside the left atrium. That is the differentiation against Boston Scientific's WATCHMAN and Abbott's Amulet, both of which plug the appendage. Jason Rogers is chief medical officer of the new company, and the Laminar management team came across with the assets.
No trial timeline has been set. The round trip is the part founders should sit with. A strategic paid $400 million upfront for a cardiac implant before its trial read out, then handed it back to venture money to finish the clinical work.