Boston Scientific report strong US stent sales

Boston Scientific has said its Taxus drug-coated stent has rung up US sales of about $42 million since its launch earlier this month.

The device was largely developed in the company's R&D facility in Galway and led directly to the creation of at least 400 jobs at the West of Ireland plant.  The medical device maker employs more than 3,000 people in Ireland.

Drug-coated stents such as the one developed by Boston Scientific, are expected to revolutionise the prevention of clogged arteries. They are tiny wire mesh tubes which prop open surgically-cleared arteries and deliver drugs to prevent them from reclogging with scar tissue.

Boston Scientific last month became the second company after Johnson & Johnson to enter the lucrative US market for drug-coated stents. It has set some aggressive targets for Taxus, aiming to capture up to 70 per cent of the US market within 70 days.

The company said preliminary net US sales from March 8th through March 19 th were about $42 million.

At a meeting with analysts last month, Boston Scientific estimated Taxus sales of between $52 million and $75 million for the entire month. But the company had to wait until March 4th for US Food and Drug Administration approval, so it began recording sales on March 8th.

The company said it shipped a total of about 92,000 Taxus units up to March 19th.

Additional reporting Reuters