Boston Scientific has signed a definitive agreement to acquire BridgePoint Medical, developer of a proprietary, catheter-based system to treat coronary chronic total occlusions (CTOs).
According to a company release, the transaction is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2012 subject to customary closing conditions.
The BridgePoint Medical CTO system is comprised of the CrossBoss CTO Crossing Catheter and the Stingray CTO Re-Entry System, and is designed to navigate highly occluded coronary arteries as a means of blood flow restoration. The system has received both FDA clearance and CE mark approval, and is currently the only crossing and re-entry system cleared in the USA for use in coronary CTOs.
“Complete arterial blockages pose a major challenge in the treatment of coronary artery disease, and this CTO system gives physicians an important treatment option in these difficult cases,” said Marty Leon, director of the Center for Interventional Vascular Therapy at New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center in New York City, USA. “Many of these patients would have previously been referred for bypass surgery, typically requiring weeks of recovery. Now, many of them are able to go home within 24 hours.”
