ev3 Enters Agreement - Analyst Blog

ev3, Inc. (EVVV) recently entered a new agreement with MEDRAD, Inc. Per the agreement, ev3’s SilverHawk and TurboHawk Plaque Excision Systems will be used in combination with MEDRAD’s Cotavance peripheral drug-eluting balloon angioplasty catheter for use in the DEFINITIVE AR (Anti-Restenosis) European pilot study.

The DEFINITIVE AR study evaluates the use of SilverHawk or TurboHawk Plaque Excision Systems along with the Cotavance drug-eluting balloon catheter compared to the use of the Cotavance balloon catheter alone in patients with peripheral arterial disease (PAD).

The DEFINITIVE AR study will evaluate up to 125 patients in Europe. ev3 expects to commence the study from the second half of 2010. A global multicenter pivotal trial will start soon after the pilot study gets completed.

ev3’s SilverHawk and TurboHawk Plaque Excision Systems are catheter-based technologies. These technologies are used by vascular surgeons, interventional cardiologists and radiologists for the treatment of peripheral arterial disease. ev3 launched the SilverHawk Plaque Excision System in 2003.

As on date, over 225,000 cases have already been performed using the SilverHawk Plaque Excision System.

Headquartered near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, MEDRAD is a global market leading manufacturer and distributor of high tech medical devices. These devices enable diagnostic and therapeutic medical procedures used for computed tomography, magnetic resonance and cardiovascular applications.

ev3 is a Plymouth, MN-based endovascular company that concentrates on catheter-based or endovascular technologies for the minimally invasive treatment of vascular diseases and disorders. The company’s acquired broad product portfolio focuses on applications in each of the three sub-markets of the endovascular device market (ev3) − peripheral vascular, cardiovascular and neurovascular.

ev3 competes in the endovascular market with a number of large companies like Boston Scientific Corp. (BSX), Medtronic Inc. (MDT), C.R. Bard (BCR), Cordis etc.

Presently, we are ‘Neutral’ on ev3.