Safeplus International Holdings Ltd. (ACAI)

[Jagman]

Next generation stents, absorbable. BIPH missing the boat. Magnesium alloy no problem with MRI. BSX probably moving beyond BIPH.

http://www.biotronik.com/content/detail.php?id=2867

BIOTRONIK AG developed its absorbable magnesium alloy stent (AMS) as an alternative to conventional metal stenting and to other absorbable polymer stents under development which have limitations with recoil properties. The company's AMS was designed to benefit patients and physicians on several levels including treating patients with athero-sclerosis who otherwise might not be candidates for cardiovascular stenting, and enabling re-intervention on stented vessels, a procedure that currently is not possible in the majority of cases. In addition, the Company's AMS was designed for use with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in noninvasive cardiac imaging – a growing alternative to angiography – to detect vascular stenosis. Unlike conventional metal stents, the magnesium alloy does not interfere with magnetic imaging. BIOTRONIK's AMS is currently in clinical evaluation for the treatment of vascular critical ischemia in below the knee atherosclerosis with plans for launch in 2005.