HeartPort's Quiet Exit

In the mid 1990's, many industry executives believed HeartPort Inc. was going to lead a revolution in cardiac minimally-invasive surgery. But the minimally-invasive cardiac surgery market has evolved in a different path than anyone, including many companies other than HeartPort, envisioned a decade ago. In the end, the broader vision of a transforming technology failed to materialize for HeartPort. Ethicon recently purchased the company for $81 million.