Galway-based Boston Scientific received a major boost last night when the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved a device used in angioplasty procedures that was developed at its R&D facility in the city.
Boston Scientific's plant in Galway is already producing the Taxustm coronary stent system for a large portion of the world market.
A coronary stent is an expandable metal mesh tube that is implanted during angioplasty (surgical repair of a blood vessel) at the site of the blockage.
FDA approval will dramatically increase the demand for the product and secure the jobs of 600 people recruited in Galway over the past year.
"This approval is a breakthrough event for the treatment of cardiovascular disease in the United States," said Mr Jim Tobin, president and chief executive of the company.
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