Republicans reaped nearly $3.3 million in federal political contributions from the medtech industry in the 2017-18 election cycle, compared with $1.85 million for Democrats, according to data collected by the Center for Responsive Politics, a nonprofit campaign finance watchdog group. Medtech has “historically been a little more Republican than the average industry,” said Andrew Mayersohn, committees […]
Boston Scientific
TCT 2018: Boston Scientific wins FDA nod for drug-eluting vascular stent
On the heels of positive study results at the 30th Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics meeting, Boston Scientific (NYSE:BSX) won FDA approval for its drug-eluting vascular stent system, Eluvia. The device, which is designed for the treatment of peripheral artery disease, uses a drug-polymer combination to deliver paclitaxel over the course of a year. “Over the past decade, we’ve […]
Boston Scientific launches trial for drug-eluting peripheral stent
Boston Scientific (NYSE:BSX) said last week that it enrolled the first patient in a pivotal trial to evaluate its below-the-knee drug-eluting stent in patients with critical limb ischemia. The peripheral stent is the first of its kind to undergo the FDA’s breakthrough device program, according to the medtech giant. Roughly 17 million people in the U.S. […]
RenovoRx sets its sights on localized treatment of pancreatic cancer
People living with pancreatic cancer find themselves facing devastating odds – the five-year survival rate is in the single digits, according to the American Cancer Rate. Pursuing treatment often means dealing with the side effects of systemic chemotherapy, including hair loss, fatigue and neuropathy. Shaun Bagai and his team at RenovoRx think that their catheter […]
Biotronik touts two-year study comparing drug-eluting stents
Biotronik yesterday presented two-year data from a trial comparing Boston Scientific‘s (NYSE:BSX) Synergy biodegradable polymer everolimus-eluting stent, Biotronik’s Orsiro sirolimus-eluting stent and Medtronic‘s (NYSE:MDT) Resolute Integrity zotarolimus-eluting stent. Results from the 3,514-patient trial showed no significant difference between the various stents regarding the rate of target vessel failure after two years. But analyses of one-year data found differences between the rates of […]
EuroPCR 2018: Study compares drug-coated balloons in patients with arterial in-stent restenosis
At this year’s annual EuroPCR meeting, Boston Scientific (NYSE:BSX touted results from the first trial to compare two drug-coated balloons with different drug formulations – Boston Scientific’s Agent paclitaxel-coated PTCA device and B. Braun’s SeQuent Please balloon. The 125-patient study evaluated the balloons in patients with in-stent restenosis of a lesion previously treated with a drug-eluting […]
RenovoRx raises $7m for drug-device pancreatic cancer therapy
RenovoRx said today that it closed a $7 million tranche in a $10 million round to fund the development of its drug-device combination product designed to deliver chemotherapy directly to tumors in patients with locally advanced pancreatic cancer. The company’s round was led by Boston Scientific (NYSE:BSX) and joined by btov Partners, Astia Angels, Golden Seeds […]
Boston Scientific’s drug-coated balloon succeeds in femoropopliteal segment at one year
Data from Boston Scientific‘s (NYSE:BSX) Ranger SFA trial showed that treatment with its drug-coated balloon succeeded in the femoropopliteal segment after one year and resulted in greater rates of patency, with fewer interventions, compared to standard balloon angioplasty. The results, which were published this month in JACC: Cardiovascular Interventions, demonstrated that both groups of patients – […]
HRS 2018: Study questions benefit of ablation over drug therapy for atrial fibrillation
Long-awaited data released today from a large clinical trial comparing catheter ablation with drug therapy in treating atrial fibrillation showed no significant benefit for ablation, according to Dr. Douglas Packer, who presented the findings today at the annual meeting of the Heart Rhythm Society in Boston. The 2,204-patient trial, sponsored by the National Institutes of […]
Abbott pulls Xience Alpine drug-eluting stent from Indian market
Abbott (NYSE:ABT) reportedly stopped selling its Xience Alpine drug-eluting coronary stent in India this week in response to price caps set by the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority. A spokesperson for the healthcare firm said in a statement that Abbott “fulfilled all the requirements to discontinue selling its Xience Alpine drug-eluting stent in India as of April […]