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This year's annual scientific sessions of the American College of Cardiology (ACC; Bethesda, Maryland), held here in early March, included a newly launched meeting-within-a meeting focusing on interventional cardiology, a change that is indicative of the growing importance of device-based therapies in cardiovascular disease. Drug-eluting stents (DES) continue to play a key role in market expansion, and now dominate the field of percutaneous intervention (PCI) in the U.S. and, increasingly, in Europe.
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Guidant (Indianapolis) and its Cardiac Rhythm Management (CRM) business do not have a process for comprehensive internal or external medical review of the clinical impact of product malfunction.
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MicroMed Cardiovascular (Houston), which is focused on the development of miniaturized implantable ventricular assist technology, said it has initiated a multicenter evaluation of its newest design of the DeBakey VAD (ventricular assist device).
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Angiotech Pharmaceuticals (Vancouver, British Columbia) reported expiration of the FTC's waiting period for its purchase of American Medical Systems Holdings (AMI; Lake Forest, Illinois), allowing it to proceed with the $785 million all-cash acquisition, subject to satisfying remaining conditions.
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Angiography for female patients who have presented with symptoms of cardiac distress appear to be not effective in determining the possible extent of coronary artery disease that may actually exist, according to new research.
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Andrew Reed, PhD, has joined CardioTech International (Wilmington, Massachusetts) as vice president of technology in charge of CardioPass coronary artery bypass development and biomaterials.
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An anniversary, especially a 10-year one, would typically be a cause for a festive celebration. However, at this year's 31st annual International Stroke Conference, sponsored by the American Stroke Association (ASA; Dallas) and held here in February, the 10th anniversary of the FDA's 1996 approval of Genentech's (South San Francisco, California) clot-busting drug tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) was noted in muted style.
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Following is the list of the recommendation made to Guidant(Indianapolis) concerning strengthening its product surveillance and reporting.
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With an environment demanding increased public disclosure of information about implantable devices, med-tech powerhouse Medtronic (Minneapolis) released its 2006 Medtronic CRM Product Performance Report (First Edition, Volume 54), incorporating up-to-date information about pacemaker, implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) and implantable lead performance.
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Biosense Webster (Diamond Bar, California), a Johnson & Johnson (New Brunswick, New Jersey) company, and Siemens Medical Solutions (Malvern, Pennsylvania) entered a strategic alliance giving Biosense Webster exclusive worldwide rights to distribute Siemens Acuson AcuNav ultrasound catheters to electrophysiologists.
