Dr. Manny Villafaña has led the industry in cardiac device advancements for the last 50 years. So impactful are his contributions, that he has been named “The Living Legend of Medicine” by the World Society of Cardiothoracic Surgeons. As a serial entrepreneur and medtech innovator, the companies he started have reshaped the landscape of cardiac medical devices time and time again.

​In March of 1967, Medtronic hired him as its first international sales administrator for the cardiac pacemaker. Manny was in the room with surgeons who implanted pacemakers for the first time, teaching doctors and surgeons about the pacemaker technology, and, after moving to Argentina a few years later, expanded Medtronic’s market size substantially.  But as much as Manny loved, lived, and breathed the pacemaker, he knew it needed improvements. The pacemakers at the time would only last around 12–18 months before needing replacement. Manny knew there had to be a way to have them last much longer: at least 10 years. Medtronic told him it was impossible to do. But, as we’ll come to see, Manny thrives on doing the impossible.  

In 1973, after leaving Medtronic, Dr. Villafaña founded Cardiac Pacemakers, Inc. (CPI) in Minnesota. He had an ambitious goal: to develop a small, lightweight pacemaker that would last 10 years instead of 18 months. Manny and his team developed the first long-life, lithium-powered pacemakers and defibrillators. This new technology didn’t only meet their goal; it surpassed it. The CPI pacemakers lasted 30–40 years instead of the intended 10 years. The technology they developed is incorporated into virtually every single pacemaker and defibrillator around the world. What was referred to as impossible became the cornerstone of the pacemaker industry.  CPI was bought by Boston Scientific for $27 billion.

Having seen how he could transform inefficient technology into a remarkable advancement, surgeons approached Manny and asked if he could do the same to artificial heart valves. Thus, St. Jude Medical, Inc. was born.  In 1976, Manny founded St. Jude Medical and co-developed the St. Jude heart valve: a bi-leaflet artificial heart valve made of pyrolytic carbon. This next-generation advancement became the “gold standard” of heart valves due to its durability and the material’s biocompatibility and thromboresistance.  The St. Jude heart valve was such a profound leap forward in cardiac device technology that it is still the most commonly used prosthesis in the world. There are approximately five million patients with this implant.  Abbott Medical of Chicago recently paid $30 billion for St. Jude Medical, Inc.

In 1987, Dr. Villafaña founded ATS Medical, where he and his team developed the next-generation heart valve. The ATS heart valve is still used in cardiac surgeries over 30 years later.  Medtronic purchased the publicly traded ATS Medical in 2010 for $400 million — which would be $1 billion in today’s dollars.  Dr. Villafaña has founded, developed, taken public, and sold several other companies as well, with notable successes and contributions to the industry along the way. Without his advancements in cardiac devices, the procedures and medical solutions would surely not be where they are today. Manny has done seven IPOs, raising capital for his companies and charities over 45 different times.