Acquisition
Boston Scientific Corporation has acquired Labcoat Ltd, a privately held, development-stage, drug-eluting stent technology company in Galway, Ireland. Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.
Labcoat has developed a novel technology for coating drug-eluting stents, which uses precisely metered droplets of a biodegradable polymer and drug combination. These create a thin coating confined to the outer surface of the stents used in coronary bypass procedures.
This should significantly reduce the amount of polymer and drug to which the vessel wall is exposed. Once the drug has been delivered, the biodegradable coating resorbs, leaving the bare-metal stent. This is intended to provide the same degree of restenosis reduction (preventing the graft from blocking) as conventional drug-eluting stents, but with faster and more complete healing of blood vessels 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, the company’s President and CEO. “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 of the stent, which consists of a Boston Scientific stent coated on its outer surface with a biodegradable polymer containing the drug paclitaxel. Clinical data showed promising results for both reduction of restenosis and strut coverage nine months after implantation. These data will be used as the basis of an application for marketing authorisation in the first half of this year.
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