Cordis Corp. covered its bets a bit as it closed the acquisition of M.A. Med Alliance SA (Medalliance) announced almost a year ago. While the total payment for the company could total $1.135 billion, it could take six years for the owners of privately held Medalliance to see most of the funds.
Five long years after the publication of the now-notorious Katsanos paper, the U.S. FDA has issued a final determination about whether devices indicated for treatment of peripheral artery disease carry the threat of excess mortality when using paclitaxel as an antiproliferative.
It has become apparent that introducing two stents into the body to treat a patient with a bifurcation disease is not necessary and can be harmful, David Hildick-Smith, the lead investigator in a study, told delegates at the EuroPCR conference in Paris. Presenting late-breaking clinical data of three-year follow up results of different stenting strategies in patients with true left main stem bifurcation lesions, Hildick-Smith said that the results showed that only one in five patients needed a second stent.
While the disappearing drug-eluting stent seems to have faded from view for the time being, several manufacturers have invested in fabrication of drug-eluting stents with polymers that absorb once the drug of elution has done its work. A new study indicates that patients who have already had a myocardial infarction fare better on stents made with these biodegradable polymers, an outcome that may soon push second-generation DES devices into med-tech history.