Percutaneous Mitral Valve Therapy: The Next Decade

After more than a decade, the field of transcatheter mitral valve therapy is still in its infancy, yet it is surprisingly crowded. The first percutaneous mitral valve company was founded in 1999, the same year that the first transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) company was founded, but while TAVI is now on the market in Europe and in the US, the leading transcatheter mitral valve therapy has only just completed clinical trials. The anatomy of the mitral valve is much more complex than its aortic counterpart, patients with mitral valve disease make up a heterogeneous group, and the anatomical environment for mitral valve implants is much more challenging. Nevertheless, the potential market for transcatheter mitral valve treatments is at least four times that of TAVI, is wide open, and offers a substantial growth opportunity for strategic companies working in the cardiovascular space.