Abbot Extends Presence in Interventional Cardiology

Two agreements have been announced by Abbott Laboratories (Abbott Park, IL, USA) that significantly expand the company's presence in interventional cardiology.

The first agreement, with MedNova, Limited (Galway, Ireland), will give Abbott distribution rights to MedNova's embolic filters, NeuroShield and CardioShield, and carotid stent products. MedNova is a development-stage medical device company that is at the forefront in the development of intravascular filtration systems. Abbott has taken an equity position in MedNova and has the option to acquire the company provided certain milestones are met.

The second agreement gives Abbot a worldwide license to the Guardian system of Rubicon Medical, Inc. (Salt Lake City, UT, USA). This system is intended for embolization protection during a stent procedure. The system utilizes a balloon inflated during stenting and an aspiration catheter to remove embolic material dislodged during the procedure. Abbott will thus be able to offer two embolic capture technologies to clinicians.

Abbott says embolic protection is especially important for saphenous vein grafts, carotid artery stenting, and renal artery stenting, where intravascular debris dislodged during a procedure could possibly cause a stroke, heart attack, or damage to the kidneys. "The MedNova and Rubicon agreements bring additional leading technology and innovative products to our vascular franchise,” said Richard A. Gonzalez, executive vice president, medical products, Abbott Laboratories.




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