Medtech HeartFlow Joins SPAC Movement, Plans to List on NYSE

Medtech company HeartFlow is heading to the New York Stock Exchange through a merger with special purpose acquisition company, Longview Acquisition Corp. II. 

HeartFlow developed the HeartFlow FFRCT Analysis, a non-invasive diagnostic tool that helps manage and treat patients with heart disease. The program creates a three-dimensional digital model of the patient’s heart and provides computed tomography angiogram-derived Fractional Flow Reserve (FFRCT) values along the heart’s arteries. This provides treating physicians with a robust understanding of blockages in the arteries and helps determine the best course of treatment for the patients. The company said its diagnostic tool has higher accuracy than other non-invasive tests on the market and has demonstrated an 83% reduction in unnecessary invasive angiograms.

The company’s decision to follow the SPAC route to becoming a publicly traded company has become a popular method in the biopharma industry. Over the past few years, multiple companies have opted for this route, including the recently announced SPAC merger by Hong Kong-based Prenetics Limited. As BioSpace has previously reported, there was a 250% increase in SPAC mergers in 2020.

HeartFlow will list on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol “HFLO.” Following the merger, HeartFlow will operate as HeartFlow Group, Inc. The merger with Longview Acquisition Corp. II, an affiliate of Glenview Capital Management, will provide the company with an estimated $400 million in cash. Those funds will be used for growth capital, product development and general corporate purposes. 

HeartFlow said its program is currently targeting a $10 billion market but plans to expand that to a $50 billion market by expanding the HeartFlow Analysis use across hospital and healthcare systems and introducing new products. The HeartFlow Analysis is currently available in the U.S., the European Union, the United Kingdom, and Japan. 

When the merger is complete, HeartFlow is expected to have a valuation of about $2.8 billion. Longview has already raised $690 million. HeartFlow is expected to receive about $599 million of those funds, while the remaining millions will be reimbursed to shareholders as dividends. 

John H. Stevens, president, chief executive officer and co-founder of HeartFlow, said the decision to merge with the SPAC company is an important milestone for the company. He said the company’s diagnostic device “can transform cardiovascular care with risk assessment, diagnosis planning and treatment management.”

Larry Robbins, chairman of Longview and CEO of Glenview, also expressed his excitement about the merger with HeartFlow. 

“For us, HeartFlow’s compelling investment attributes leapt off the page: addressing a massive unmet medical need with proprietary, innovative technology through a highly attractive business model that experts widely cite as delivering superior patient outcomes at lower systemic costs,” Robbins said in a statement.