January 6, 2009 - Boston Scientific Corp. today said it acquired Labcoat Ltd., a privately held, development-stage drug-eluting stent technology company located in Galway, Ireland.
Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed. Labcoat developed a new technology for coating drug-eluting stents using precisely metered droplets of a biodegradable polymer and drug formulation to create a thin (less than 1 micron) coating confined to the outer surface of a coronary stent. This proprietary technology is designed to significantly reduce the amount of polymer and drug to which the vessel wall is exposed, while minimizing polymer and drug on the inner surface of the stent where endothelial cell growth is required for healing. Once the drug has been delivered, the biodegradable coating resorbs, leaving behind only the bare-metal stent. This approach is intended to provide the same degree of restenosis reduction as a conventional drug-eluting stent, but faster and more complete vessel healing after stent implantation.
Boston Scientific said the technology represents a major advance for DES.
Labcoat has successfully completed a clinical trial with its JACTAX Stent, which consists of a Boston Scientific bare-metal Liberte Stent coated on its outer surface with a biodegradable polymer containing the drug paclitaxel. Clinical data presented at TCT 2008 showed promising results for both restenosis and strut coverage nine months after implantation. These data will be used to support CE Mark submission, which is expected to occur in the first half of 2009. European launch of a new drug-eluting stent incorporating this technology is planned following regulatory approval.
Boston Scientific plans to evaluate the Labcoat technology for use on both its paclitaxel and everolimus families of drug-eluting stents. Paclitaxel is used on the TAXUS family of stents.
For more information: www.bostonscientific.com
October 16, 2024 
