Ajax Health LLC, with backing from the $4 billion KKR Health Care Strategic Growth Fund II, and Boston Scientific Corp. launched a new business, Flowmod, to advance a system for treating heart failure developed by Boston Sci.

Sofinnova Partners raised a whopping €1.2 billion (US$1.26 billion) over the past year to invest in life sciences companies ranging from incubation to later-stage growth, and spanning biotech, med tech, industrial biotech and digital medicine.

Royal Phillips NV opted to withdraw the Tack endovascular repair device only six years after the U.S. FDA’s approved it. Tack is designed to repair vascular dissection caused by angioplasty. The associated recall lists 20 injuries and no fatalities, but the device design might be a culprit in forcing the withdrawal of the Tack.

Boston Scientific Corp. agreed to acquire Sonivie Ltd., developer of a therapeutic intravascular ultrasound system for denervation to treat resistant hypertension, pulmonary hypertension and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. On a 100% basis, the deal is valued at $600 million with $400 million up front and $200 million upon achievement of a regulatory milestone.

The Apple Watch may be able to alert wearers to heart palpitations, but Google LLC’s Pixel Watch 3 can now detect when a user’s heart stops – and call emergency services. The pulse detection featured received clearance from the U.S. FDA on Feb. 26 and Google plans to make it available on its Pixel Watch 3 starting in March. Pulse detection is already available for watches sold in the U.K. and EU.

In a flurry of news releases on Feb. 27, Teleflex Inc. reported plans to buy the vascular intervention business of Biotronik SE & Co. for €760 million (US$791 million), said it intended to split into two separate public companies, floated a $300 million accelerated share repurchase program and reported the impending retirement of Chief Financial Officer Thomas Powell. The news sent the company stock down more than 20%.

Reflecting a positive reception in the market, Kestra Medical Technologies Ltd. increased the target haul for its planned IPO from $100 million to between $140 million and $160 million in an S-1 amendment filed Feb. 26. The company will offer 10 million shares at $14 to $16 per share, with the final price to be set the week of Mar. 3, just ahead of the offering date.

Berlin Heals Holding AG recently raised over CHF7 million (US$7.8 million) in a financing round for C-MIC, a small implantable device it believes can reverse heart failure.

Boston Scientific Corp. recently received CE mark for its navigation-enabled Farawave Nav ablation catheter and Faraview mapping software to be used with its Farapulse pulsed field ablation (PFA) system. The technologies are expected to improve physicians’ understanding of patients’ atrial fibrillation to enable treatment using the Farapulse PFA system.

The lung and thrombosis may play a key role in cancer and metastasis progression, according to a collaborative study led by Cornell University scientists. In the nonmetastatic lung microenvironment of several cancer types, the development of a prothrombosis niche promotes metastasis formation through the release of small extracellular vesicles loaded with an integrin protein.