Angiotech gets a second wave of positive FDA news (ANPI, JNJ, ABT, MDT)
Angiotech Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: ANPI) on Thursday got the FDA’s OK to market a next-generation drug-coated stent with partner Boston Scientific (NYSE: BSX), a deal that might help it prop up its declining stent business.
The new Taxus stent is designed for long lesions — situations that typically required the use of multiple stents previously, or in some cases old-fashioned angioplasty. The company says it is a more efficient treatment option for the estimated 8 to 10% of patients with long lesions, and plans to launch the product next month.
The new announcement may help Angiotech deal with brutal stent competition. The company’s royalty revenue from stents fell 40 percent in the first quarter to $17.1 million.
The new longer stent might be of particular use as the company seeks to take market share from Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ), Abbott Laboratories Inc. (NYSE: ABT) and Medtronic (NYSE: MDT).
The Angiotech stent announcement comes on the heels of an FDA approval last month for the company’s implantable device to prevent pulmonary embolism. It’s a string of good news for a company that earlier this year said might be forced to seek alternate funding or a potential reorganization or debt restructuring due to continued stent market declines.
Late last year, Angiotech was seeking strategic options. At the time, it was not clear that the debt-saddled firm would survive. The stock has since climbed more than 10-fold to more than $1.80 a share . — Mike Tarsala
