Say hello to MassDevice +3, a bite-sized view of the top three medtech stories of the day. This feature of MassDevice.com’s coverage highlights our 3 biggest and most influential stories from the day’s news to make sure you’re up to date on the headlines that continue to shape the medical device industry.

 

3. Echo Therapeutics proxy war gets ugly amid alleged threats

Embattled Echo Therapeutics issued a new volley against its proxy war rival and largest shareholder Platinum Group, accusing the activist investor of conspiring to tank the company’s stock.

Echo claimed today that a Platinum leader threatened the company’s former CEO via text message, adding that the investment had made some recent deals that hurt other stockholders while lining the company’s coffers. Read more

2. St. Jude touts EnligHTN data amid renal denervation backlash

True to its word, medtech titan St. Jude Medical hasn’t given up on renal denervation as a potentially disruptive treatment for patients with hypertension, releasing new data today showing that its 2nd-generation EnligHTN device appeared safe and effective in preliminary data.

St. Jude investigators reported an average of 25 mmHg points of blood pressure reduction in the less than 40 patients followed for 6 months, numbers that would compare to taking 2 anti-hypertensive drugs per day. More than 80% of patients achieved a successful “response” to renal denervation, meaning a 10 mmHg reduction in blood pressure. Read more

1. J&J’s pipeline includes 30 ‘major’ medical devices and a surgical robot

Johnson & Johnson’s medical device & diagnostics division plans to file for approval for some 30 “major” products over the next 3 years from regulators, executives told analysts at an investors meeting.

The pipeline includes planned filings for orthopedic, surgical and diabetes care devices in the U.S., Europe and Japan through 2016 – and an entry into the robot-assisted surgery arena, executives said at the meeting in New Brunswick, N.J. Read more