Ex-CoreValve CEO Lemaitre launches medical device equity fund

February 8, 2010 by MassDevice staff

Dan Lemaitre, the former CEO of CoreValve Inc., will head up Essex Woodlands Health Ventures' new medical device fund, White Pine Medical.

Last year Medtronic Inc. (NYSE:MDT) spent about $700 million, plus a possible $150 million more, buying CoreValve and its aortic valve replacement device. Lemaitre, who was a senior vice president at Medtronic before his stint at CoreValve, spent 28 years as an analyst at SG Cowen and Merrill Lynch, covering the medical device industry.

He'll start his new fund with $50 million from Essex Woodlands, which Lemaitre said is looking to do some bargain hunting.

"Valuations in the medical device arena are extraordinarily attractive due to a litany of ambiguities, yet the sector provides exceptional growth opportunities," Lemaitre said in prepared remarks.

Essex Woodlands already holds a stake in nearly two-dozen medical device firms, including Abiomed Inc. (NSDQ:ABMD), ATS Medical Inc. (NSDQ:ATSI) and Echo Therapeutics (NSDQ:ECTE), according to its website.

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