A trio of big-name medical device makers are touting the results of clinical trials for several products designed to monitor or treat atrial fibrillation, stroke, thoracic and abdominal aortic aneurysms and unexplained fainting.
Minneapolis-based Medtronic Inc. (NYSE:MDT) led the way with a trio of studies. The company released one-year and 30-day data, respectively, for two of the trials: An investigational device exemption look at Medtronic’s Endurant stent graft in treating AAA and an IDE study of the Valiant graft for TAA. The third study looked at the company’s Reveal line of insertable cardiac monitors led in diagnosing and treating unexplained fainting.
Not to be outdone by its Twin Cities peer, St. Jude Medical Inc. (NYSE:STJ) announced results from its Assert study, saying it showed that monitoring implants can help predict stroke.
And Covidien plc (NYSE:COV) produced evidence it said showed the clinical effectiveness of its VNUS ClosureFast catheter, which it acquired for $440 million last year.
Here’s a roundup of other recent clinical trial news:
- Study: Fish oil capsules don’t help atrial fibrillation
Prescription supplements of omega-3 fatty acids do not appear to prevent recurrences of atrial fibrillation, a type of irregular heartbeat that can lead to stroke, researchers report, according to WebMD.
Read more - Kidney procedure reduces high blood pressure, study finds
A simple surgical procedure destroying certain nerves in the kidney can sharply reduce blood pressure in patients whose hypertension cannot be controlled with conventional medications, researchers said Wednesday, the Los Angeles Times reported.
Read more - Tengion advances clinical trial for Neo-Urinary Conduit in bladder cancer patients
Tengion Inc. (NSDQ:TNGN) announced that the scheduled one-month, post-operative clinical assessment of the first implanted bladder cancer patient in its ongoing clinical trial has been completed as expected and has permitted the second patient to be enrolled without delay.
Read more - Medical Acoustics wins research grant for Lung Flute clinical trial
Medical Acoustics LLC announced that it has been awarded a UB CAT/NYSTAR grant. The $75,000 grant, awarded by the University at Buffalo Center for Advanced Biomedical and Bioengineering Technology, is funded by the New York State Foundation for Science Technology and Innovation (NYSTAR) and will help finance a clinical trial entitled, “Six Month Clinical Trial of Lung Flute in Patients with COPD.” The total cost of the study is expected to be approximately $250,000.
Read more - OptiMedica’s Catalys Precision Laser System Study Published in Science Translational Medicine Shows Marked Advancement in Cataract Surgery
OptiMedica Corp. announced that results from a clinical study of its Catalys precision laser system were published in the peer-reviewed journal Science Translational Medicine (“Femtosecond Laser-Assisted Cataract Surgery with Integrated Optical Coherence Tomography,” Volume 2, Issue 58, November 17, 2010). The data showed that, when compared to manual techniques, the Catalys system helped surgeons achieve significant improvement in precision during several critical steps of cataract surgery.
Read more - ArterX clinical trial results announced at Veith meeting
U.S. clinical trial results for Tenaxis’ investigational vascular surgical sealant, ArterX, were presented today at the Veith Meeting in New York. Dr. William Stone of the Mayo Clinic reported a more than 20 percent margin of improvement for ArterX Surgical Sealant in the sealing of vascular suture lines compared with a control group featuring a commercially available gelatin foam/thrombin combination.
Read more - NIH-Funded study is first to demonstrate increased long-term survival with favorable neurologic function among patients receiving CPR using ACSI ResQPump and ResQPOD CPR devices
A combination of two devices could save the lives of several thousand cardiac arrest patients each year if implemented nationwide, suggests results of a clinical trial presented at the American Heart Assn.’s Resuscitation Science Symposium.
Read more - Cardio3 BioSciences announces positive outcome of the C-Cure Phase II clinical trial in heart failure patients
Cardio3 BioSciences announced positive six-month results, including significant functional and clinical benefit, from the Phase II clinical trial of its development programme C-Cure, designed as a novel stem cell therapy for heart failure based on breakthrough technology.
Read more - Alliance Surgical Distributors unveils utilization study
Alliance Surgical Distributors conducted a study of its flagship distributorship, Inland Spine and Orthopedics, finding that surgical case volumes following inception of the distributorship were consistent with years prior to formation of the distributorship and varied only with volume of new patient visits.
Read more - New findings show bioequivalence, ease-of-use and efficiency of MannKind’s drug delivery platform
MannKind Corp. (NSDQ:MNKD) unveiled new data on its drug delivery, device and particle technologies demonstrating the bioequivalence, ease of use and efficiency of its novel platform.
Read more - Catheter ablation improves atrial fibrillation symptoms and quality of life compared with drug therapy
According to data appearing today in Circulation Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes, patients with atrial fibrillation treated with catheter ablation using the Navistar ThermoCool catheter reported markedly fewer symptoms and substantially improved quality of life than patients treated with antiarrhythmia drugs at one year.
Read more - Ardian’s catheter-based hypertension treatment lowers blood pressure
Late-breaking data presented at the American Heart Assn. Scientific Sessions 2010 and simultaneously published in The Lancet demonstrated that the landmark Symplicity HTN-2 trial evaluating Ardian’s Symplicity catheter system met its primary endpoint.
Read more
