Originally Published EMDM
March/April 2004
INDUSTRY NEWS
Netherlands-Based Company Licenses Stent CoatingA drug that prevents restenosis developed by
Occam International B.V. (Eindhoven, Netherlands), a subsidiary of Biosensors International, will be applied to a bifurcation stent marketed by
Devax (Irvine, CA, USA). Occam will provide the coating services under the terms of an agreement announced in January. The uncoated Axxess bifurcation stent received the CE mark last August and will be available in Europe in the first quarter of 2004. The coated model is undergoing clinical trials.
Occam’s Biolimus A9 drug is formulated to prevent tissue growth around a stent following implantation. “We are excited to be working with Devax,” says Yoh-Chie Lu, president and CEO of Biosensors International. “This [makes] us the first company in the stent industry to apply our antiproliferative drug . . . to bifurcation lesions.” Occurring in approximately 30% of patients, according to Lu, bifurcation lesions tend to have a higher restenosis rate than lesions in nonbranched vessels.
The coated stent will provide cardiologists with a breakthrough device, says Devax president and CEO Jeff Thiel. The company has agreed to issue milestone payments to Occam based on the success of the clinical trials. It will also pay a royalty on sales of the product.
For more information, contact Occam’s parent company, Biosensors International, Weeresteinstraat 147, 2182 GV Hillegom, Netherlands; phone: +31 252 517676; fax: +31 252 526782; e-mail:
info@biosensors.nl; Internet: www.biosensors.nl.
Norbert Sparrow
Copyright ©2004 European Medical Device Manufacturer
