In line with the Make in India initiative, global medical device maker Meril Life Sciences on Saturday launched its first indigenously designed and manufactured artificial aortic valve for patients who are at a high risk or unwilling to undergo open heart valve replacement surgery.

The Transcatheter Aortic Heart Valve Replacement which will be sold under the brand name “Myval”, is a minimally invasive procedure in which the doctor places an artificial valve into the patient’s diseased valve via a catheter inserted through the femoral artery .

It is an alternative way to replace diseased valves without undergoing traditional open heart procedure, which some patients may not receive well.

“Meril is the first Indian company to commercially make this therapy available in the country. Through the commercialisation of this technology, Meril will soon bring the next generation treatment modality to thousands of patients across the country and globally,” said Sanjeev Bhatt, VP Corporate Strategy, Meril Life Sciences.

The company has also received an approval from the Indian drug regulator Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation for commercialisation of TAVR.

The approval is based on successful results from a clinical trial done in India, involving 14 hospitals — Fortis and Medanta-The Medicity and Eternal Hospital, Jaipur, to name a few, Bhatt said.

“The development of this valve, which is implanted non-surgically through a catheter is a great achievement for the ‘Made in India’ initiative that such an important R&D has happened from India in a field which till now has been dominated by only American devices,” Principal Investigator Ashok Seth, Chairman of Fortis Escorts Heart Institute.

TAVR is increasingly becoming a preferred alternative for surgical valve replacement because it is associated with faster recovery time.