Technological evolution has changed the healthcare industry drastically all around the world and India is not far behind. India is accepting technological breakthroughs with open-arms, and the fast increasing start-up culture has contributed a lot to the movement. Working towards enhancing themselves on the lines of Make in India initiative, global medical device maker Meril Life Sciences recently launched its first homegrown designed and manufactured artificial aortic valve for patients who are at high risk or reluctant to undergo open heart valve permutation surgery.
The Transcatheter Aortic Heart Valve Replacement (TAVR) that will be available for purchase under the brand name “Myval”, is a minimally intrusive procedure in which the doctor has the ability to place an artificial valve into the patient’s diseased valve via a catheter inserted through the femoral artery in simpler words the broad artery in the groin region. This is an alternative way to change diseased valves without undergoing traditional open-heart procedure, which some patients may be reluctant to, or the body may not be able to receive it well.
Meril is the first Indian company to make this valve available in the country commercially. By the commercialization of this technology, Meril will soon make available the next-generation processing modality to thousands of patients across the world. It is pertinent to mention that TAVR has been dominated by US-based medical devices makers Medtronic and Edwards Lifesciences. The novel Myval technology is associated with zero new pacemaker implantation rates post procedure which is an essential benefit for the patient already treated for valve replacement. A pacemaker is an additional device that may be placed post TAVR procedure. Keeping healthcare affordable for all in mind, the price of the technology will be well within the budget.
The company has also acquired approval from the Indian drug regulator Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) for commercialization of TAVR. The support has been based on successful results from a clinical trial done in India, involving 14 hospitals. The development of this valve, which is implanted non-surgically through a catheter is an excellent achievement for the Made in India initiative that such a pioneering R&D has happened in the healthcare arena which till now has been dominated by only American devices. TAVR is increasingly becoming a preferable alternative for surgical valve replacement because it is associated with faster recovery time.
According to reports the first patient to receive Myval has completed more than a year and is living a symptom-free productive life. The valve was effective in relieving the patient’s symptoms and reducing the death and hospitalization from the aortic stenosis. According to the makers, Myval TAVR technology will be a boon for millions of patients suffering from aortic stenosis.
