BSX Presentation at EuroPCR – Analyst Blog

At the EuroPCR conference, scheduled to be held between May 15 and 18 in Paris, Boston Scientific Corporation ( BSX ) will be presenting data from several of its clinical programs.

The company will be presenting data from the Evolve trial that evaluated the Synergy stent, the fourth-generation drug-eluting stent (“DES”). Boston Scientific is looking forward to approval of the stent in Europe in late 2012 with its full launch scheduled for 2013. The company also has plans to begin trial of the product in the US. Successful commercialization of Synergy will strengthen the company’s DES portfolio, which is currently experiencing several challenges including pricing pressure and lower procedure volume.

Data from the Reprise I trial will also be presented at the conference, which assessed the safety of the Lotus valve system. This device is meant for transcatheter aortic valve replacement (“TAVR”) to treat patients with severe aortic stenosis. The Lotus valve came to be included in the portfolio of Boston Scientific, following the acquisition of Sadra Medical in 2011. 

In April 2012, enrollment (of 11 patients at three sites in Australia) was completed in the Reprise I clinical trial. During the third quarter of 2012, the company plans to enroll  another batch of 120 patients at up to 15 sites in Australia and Europe in the Reprise II study, scheduled to be completed in the first half of 2013. Data from the trial will be used to support CE Mark regulatory approval, expected in the second half of 2013. 

The TAVR market has been attracting sufficient interest from MedTech companies over the recent past. The European TAVR market at present is primarily dominated by Medtronic ( MDT ) and Edwards Lifesciences ( EW ) with their respective CoreValve and Sapien, respectively.

Recommendation

Although Boston Scientific continues to  witness various headwinds in its core segments, the company is working ardently on portfolio expansion, with many products approved in the recent past and some still in the pipeline. We believe the emphasis on newer technologies should boost the company’s top line. Subsequent to the earlier-than-expected approval of Promus Element in the US (in November 2011), DES sales should benefit from the launch of the product both in Japan and Canada, in March 2012. The approval of Promus Element in US and Japan represents $200 million in additional annualized gross margin contribution at the end of 2012. We are also encouraged by the launch of Ingenio and Advantio pacemakers and Invive cardiac resynchronization therapy pacemakers (CRT-P) in Europe in April 2012, followed by the FDA approval in May 2012.

Boston Scientific is confident of its growth prospects and is resorting to all available means to return to growth.

We currently have a Neutral recommendation on Boston Scientific over the long term. The stock retains a Zacks #3 Rank (“Hold”) in the short term.

 
BOSTON SCIENTIF (BSX): Free Stock Analysis Report
 
EDWARDS LIFESCI (EW): Free Stock Analysis Report
 
MEDTRONIC (MDT): Free Stock Analysis Report
 
To read this article on Zacks.com click here.
 
Zacks Investment Research