Boston Scientific acquires Labcoat's stent technology
16 January 2009
Boston Scientific Corporation (NYSE:BSX) has acquired Labcoat
Limited, a privately held, development-stage drug-eluting stent
technology company located in Galway, Ireland. Terms of the acquisition
were not disclosed.
Labcoat has developed a novel technology for coating drug-eluting
stents that uses precisely metered droplets of a biodegradable polymer
and drug formulation to create a thin (< 1 micron) coating confined to
the outer surface of a coronary stent.
This proprietary technology is designed to significantly reduce the
amount of polymer and drug to which the vessel wall is exposed, while
minimizing polymer and drug on the inner surface of the stent where
endothelial cell growth is required for healing. Once the drug has been
delivered, the biodegradable coating resorbs, leaving behind only the
bare-metal stent. This approach is intended to provide the same degree
of restenosis reduction as a conventional drug-eluting stent, but faster
and more complete vessel healing after stent implantation.
"Boston Scientific has enjoyed an ongoing, productive relationship
with Labcoat, and we look forward to building on our shared commitment
to developing new drug-eluting stent technologies that improve patient
outcomes," said Jim Tobin, President and Chief Executive Officer of
Boston Scientific. "This technology represents a major advance for
drug-eluting stents and should help us maintain our strong position in
this market."
Labcoat has successfully completed a clinical trial with its JACTAX
Stent, which consists of a Boston Scientific bare-metal Liberte Stent
coated on its outer surface with a biodegradable polymer containing the
drug paclitaxel. Clinical data presented at TCT 2008 showed promising
results for both restenosis and strut coverage nine months after
implantation. These data will be used to support CE Mark submission,
which is expected to occur in the first half of this year. European
launch of a new drug-eluting stent incorporating this technology is
planned following regulatory approval.
Boston Scientific plans to evaluate the Labcoat technology for use on
both its paclitaxel and everolimus families of drug-eluting stents.
Paclitaxel is employed on the TAXUS family of stents, which have been
studied in thousands of patients in clinical trials and implanted in
approximately four million patients worldwide.
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