Companies

Medtronic’s Heart Pacing and Spine business areas seem to be the only real lowlights on the company’s reported quarterly financials and there are some areas where growth is definitely outstripping the market, so they must be doing something right.

St.Jude Medical, Inc.says its newly CE marked transcatheter valve is uniquely re-sheathable prior to full deployment, so could potentially lead to improved, accurate placement and reduced paravalvular leak compared with the first generation products.

By integrating BioMimetics’ breakthrough biologics platform and pipeline into its extremities business, Wright Medical Group will hope to dominate the market, especially if the company’s Augment® bone graft gets the FDA PMA nod.

Watch a lovely video of Stryker’s newly released clot-catching Stentriever, called Trevo® ProVue™ because it can be viewed fluoroscopically during the process.

Gore REDUCE Clinical Study investigators implored to continue enrollment, and drive ‘Diligent Continuation of Study’ in an effort to generate PFO data that principals believes will be significant if inclusion and exclusion criteria are adhered to and clinical bias reduced.

Peripheral vascular disease treatments have shuffled under the spotlight in recent months with a seemingly endless trail of new devices and approvals for unblocking diseased vasculature. Now Cook Medical can say it has the first drug-eluting stent to be FDA approved for the job.

Wouldn’t you love to be fly on the wall at ST.Jude’s exec offices when they see an analyst talking knowledgeably about molecules with the obvious consequence that Durata’s lead coating gets questioned… again. Despite sound clinical data, it seems they just can’t win as the nay sayers dig up anything to raise the spectre of potential disaster.

More good news for Biotronik’s peripheral vascular business as its Pulsar 18 study gets underway in the U.S., hot on the heels of favourable clinical study results from Europe.

Clinical study results show strong evidence of benefits for lower limb intervention when using Pulsar stents, with no statistical difference between heavily calcified and non calcified lesions.

So the two biggest players in the TAVI game are slugging it out over intellectual property in what promises to be a do or die moment for Medtronic’s CoreValve implant.

Biotronik has announced the launch of its 3Flow Aspiration Catheter which is designed to facilitate quick and accurate thrombus aspiration, and complements the company’s Coronary Vascular Intervention portfolio.

Good time of year to be launching new products internationally, as Orthofix trumpets the introduction of its new spinal fixation system in advance of Italy’s SIOT and France’s SOFCOT events.

A spin-out from a Belgian University has been snapped up by Sorin, in a deal which looks like it’s intended to give the Italian Cardiovascular company a toe-hold in vagus stimulation therapies for heart failure patients.

It’s a harsh reality that chasing a PMA is a lengthy and expensive exercise. HeartWare has deep enough pockets to stay the course, but will be looking forward to the day its R&D spend can come down and its revenues go up.

J&J subsidiary, Cordis Corporation has announced that the U.S. FDA has approved its S.M.A.R.T.® CONTROL® Vascular Stent Systems for use in the superficial femoral artery and/or the proximal popliteal artery.

Zimmer Holdings, Inc., has launched a new app for smartphones that is now available globally. The application, Zimmer Comeback, uses the GPS in a user’s smartphone to record time and distance while walking or running. Zimmer will donate one dollar to the Arthritis Foundation for every mile users walk or run.