After 15 years with Medtronic’s structural heart franchise, Bill Shields is leaving the medtech giant to become the chief executive of startup Versa Vascular.
Its former CEO David Hovda is retiring, according to a statement, although he “will remain an advisor to the company.”
Versa works on tricuspid repair technology to fix a leaky or damaged tricuspid valve. Open-heart surgery is the main course of action for this condition but poses major risks, especially for high-risk and frail patients.
Versa is working on an implant and delivery device that it hopes could offer a new, less invasive way to treat these patients.
Alongside Shields’ role, the company also announced it has boosted its series C round to $42 million.
This extra cash infusion will be used for its ongoing first-in-human study of the company’s AdapTR transcatheter tricuspid repair device outside of the U.S., as well as a U.S. early feasibility study of the technology.
Several companies are working on and marketing similar technologies. This includes Abbott and its TriClip TEER transcatheter tricuspid valve device. Medtronic is also working on the Intrepid TMTR / TTVR system, an investigational bioprosthetic valve delivered through a minimally invasive femoral vein catheter procedure.
Versa, founded in 2020, came out of Santa Cruz MedTech incubator Occam Labs.
Shields, for his part, boasted a 15-year stint at Medtronic’s structural heart franchise and was most recently VP and GM of its Transcatheter Mitral and Tricuspid Therapies division.
“I am thrilled to join Versa Vascular at a time when we are seeing positive results clinically, close to expanding our clinical work to the U.S., and receiving continued investor confidence,” said Shields.
“I have seen and launched a number of innovative transcatheter devices in my career, and the AdapTR technology shows similar promise to create a superior therapy for patients. I want to thank David Hovda and the team for their commitment to product development and refinement that has led to a truly novel solution that is showing it can have a positive impact on patients’ lives.”