As transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) expands into patients who may live decades after treatment, the structural heart industry is being forced to confront what its first generation of valves was not built to answer: what happens when the patient outlives the implant?

MINNEAPOLIS, June 15, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- For more than two decades, transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) has been celebrated as one of cardiovascular medicine's great procedural success stories. It made valve replacement possible for patients once considered too high-risk for open-heart surgery, accelerated recovery times, and helped build a multibillion-dollar structural heart market. But a harder question is now emerging: if the valve is implanted successfully, does that mean the patient has been restored to health?

That is the question Anteris Technologies, a global healthcare company, says the industry must confront as TAVR moves into younger, lower-risk patients who may live for decades after treatment. The next era of aortic stenosis care should be measured by whether treatment restores healthier blood flow, reduces residual disease physiology, supports ventricular recovery, and improves long-term cardiac performance.

"TAVR changed cardiovascular medicine, but implantation is not the finish line," said Wayne Paterson, Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Anteris. "If TAVR is going to be used in patients who live longer, the standard must move from 'was the implant successful?' to 'achieved disease modification or making it worse?'"

Understanding the Issue

Aortic stenosis is a narrowing of the aortic valve that restricts blood flow from the heart to the body, increasing pressure on the left ventricle. The disease can lead to shortness of breath, fatigue, chest pain, heart failure, and death. While TAVR has transformed how the disease is treated, Anteris believes the core design philosophy behind many transcatheter valves has changed little in more than two decades.

As TAVR expands into younger, healthier patients who may live 10 to 15 years or more after treatment, the company says legacy valve designs can leave patients in mild disease state rather than restoring pre-disease hemodynamics. Anteris' answer is DurAVR® THV, an investigational biomimetic transcatheter heart valve designed to closely mimic the performance of a healthy human aortic valve and restore more natural blood flow.

Valve for Life Became Choose Your First Valve Wisely

Early TAVR success was shaped by procedural access, not long-term performance. Patients were older, high-risk individuals who often had limited life expectancy. For a new era of TAVR, Anteris argues that the industry must raise the standard for what defines successful treatment.

Today, younger, more active patients need a better solution that will not just open and close but restore healthy heart function. Now, durability, structural integrity, blood-flow quality, ventricular recovery, and the possibility of future procedures are no longer secondary concerns. These variables are becoming central to treatment decisions.

"When you are treating an 85-year-old patient who may not live long enough to experience valve failure, it is easier to talk about the procedure as the victory," Paterson said. "But when the patient is 60 or 65, that logic collapses. Now the valve has to perform for the life the patient still has ahead."

What was once marketed around the idea of a "valve for life" has become a warning to "choose your first valve wisely." Failed or underperforming first-generation valves can create a cascade of difficult clinical decisions. When a transcatheter valve fails, many patients are not candidates for open-heart surgery to remove it.

Physicians may instead perform a valve-in-valve procedure, placing a second valve inside the first, which can affect blood flow and may create complications for patient health. "The directive to 'choose a first valve wisely' means that the current options have limitations," Paterson said. "We are saying that the first implant should not just be easy to place. It should be a durable design that functions better and longer."

From Device Delivery to Disease Management

DurAVR® THV was designed with disease management and durable valve restoration in mind. Unlike conventional bioprosthetic valve designs that are assembled from multiple pieces of tissue, DurAVR® THV uses a single-piece, native-shaped valve structure intended to mimic the anatomy and motion of a healthy aortic valve. The goal is to restore natural laminar blood flow and support hemodynamic performance.

Testing the Standard Head-to-Head

Anteris is further evaluating the DurAVR® THV System in the PARADIGM Trial, a randomized head-to-head trial comparing DurAVR® THV to commercially available TAVR devices in patients with severe aortic stenosis. The trial is designed to evaluate safety, efficacy, and hemodynamic performance.

"Patients, physicians, regulators, and payers deserve direct evidence," Paterson said. "If the field is going to claim that valve design affects long-term patient outcomes, then companies should be willing to test that directly. That is why we are pursuing a randomized, head-to-head strategy. We want the data to answer the question."

Anteris wants to lead the structural heart industry through a critical inflection point. "Medtech spent 20 years optimizing the path to the valve." Paterson said. "Now, our approach is working to restore patients' health and quality of life, with measurable restoration of the heart."

About Anteris Technologies

Anteris Technologies is a structural heart company redefining transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) through next-generation biomimetic valve innovation designed to restore healthy cardiac physiology and improve long-term patient outcomes. The company's DurAVR® platform is engineered to replicate natural valve function and laminar blood flow, advancing a new standard of care focused on physiologic restoration, durability, and lifetime heart performance. Through rigorous clinical validation and patient-centered innovation, Anteris is helping shape the future of structural heart therapy.

For more information, visit https://anteristech.com/.

Sources

• JAMA Internal Medicine. (2026). TAVR in low-risk and younger patients. jamanetwork.com/journals/jamainternalmedicine/fullarticle/2844657
• Cardiovascular Business. (2026, March). World's first polymeric TAVR valve impresses cardiologists, could improve durability and reduce costs. cardiovascularbusiness.com/topics/clinical/structural-heart-disease/tavr/worlds-first-polymeric-tavr-valve-impresses-cardiologists-could-improve-durability-reduce-costs
• Cardiovascular Business. (2026, May). TAVR too common among younger patients, new data prompt call to action. cardiovascularbusiness.com/topics/clinical/structural-heart-disease/tavr/tavr-too-common-among-younger-patients-new-data-prompt-call-action

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SOURCE Anteris Technologies