February 19, 2008 – Clinicians implanted the BioMatrix drug-eluting stent system into the first European patients in a live broadcast during the Joint Interventional Meeting (JIM), held in Rome, Italy, from February 13-15.
The BioMatrix drug-eluting stent system, by Biosensors International Group Ltd., combines a biodegradable PLA and the company’s proprietary limus drug, Biolimus A9.
The two cardiologists who implanted a total of six BioMatrix stents in three cases were Professor Eberhard Grube, M.D., chief of cardiology, the Helios Heart Center in Siegburg, Germany, and Gregg W. Stone, M.D., director of Cardiovascular Research and Education at New York Presbyterian Hospital-Columbia Medical Center, performed the three procedures at the Helios Heart Center in Siegburg.
The first patient to receive a BioMatrix stent was a 71-year-old male suffering from diabetes and hypertension. He was treated with two BioMatrix stents in a procedure performed by Professor Grube that was broadcasted live to the more than 1,500 attendees on the opening day of JIM.
A second patient, a 56-year-old male, received a BioMatrix to treat a previously implanted first-generation DES that had become blocked due to restenosis. Dr. Stone implanted three BioMatrix stents in a third patient, a 57-year-old male suffering from a totally occluded left anterior descending artery (LAD) and a partially occluded right coronary artery (RCA). Despite the complicated patient conditions, doctors were able to implant all six BioMatrix stents with 100 percent procedural success.
“The initial results from these implants are encouraging, and I am very optimistic about the outcome for these patients, based on the consistently positive clinical trial results achieved with BioMatrix,” added Professor Grube, who was responsible for all three live transmissions from Siegburg.
BioMatrix, which received European regulatory approval in January 2008, plans a full European and Asian launch from April 2008.
For more information: www.biomatrix.com