Tuesday, February 3, 2009

Boston Scientific enrolls stent trials patients

By Mass High Tech staff

Boston Scientific Corp., the Natick medical devices giant, has begun enrolling patients in its Platinum clinical trial to test the company’s Promus Element Everolimus Coronary Stent. With two patients enrolled last week in the U.S. and Japan, the trial is expected to test about 1,728 people at 160 global facilities, and it should be fully enrolled by October.

The tests will compare the Promus Element Everolimus Coronary Stent and the existing Promus Everolimus-Eluting Coronary Stent. The new stent being tested uses a platinum chromium alloy for more flexibility, thinner struts and a lower profile. According to Boston Scientific (NYSE: BSX) officials, the stent should enable visibility, recoil and radial strength.

The device in clinical trials is a third-generation development of the Element Stent.

Gregg W. Stone will lead the trial as principal investigator from Columbia University Medical Center and the Cardiovascular Research Foundation in New York.

Last month, reports indicated that Boston Scientific is preparing several of its property sites in Watertown and Natick for sale or lease. The company has a total of 600,000 square feet of property for sale, consisting of a Natick warehouse, measuring 316,000 square feet on Superior Drive, and Boston Scientific’s 250,000-square-foot former headquarters in Watertown, according to a Boston Globe report.