Can Boston Scientific Bounce Back from Lotus Setback?

Boston Scientific shares took a beating Tuesday after the company abruptly backed out of a scheduled appearance at the annual Piper Jaffray healthcare conference in New York. As investors seemed to fear, the sudden change of plans foreshadowed another Lotus setback. The company's stock (NYSE: BSX) dropped 7.5% by market close on Tuesday, slashing Boston Scientific's market cap by about $2.9 billion. About three hours after the close, the company said it had pushed back its previously-reported timelines for re-introducing the Lotus Edge aortic valve system in Europe, and the filing of a final pre-market approval (PMA) module with FDA. The Lotus Edge for transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) may be one of the most watched products in Boston Scientific's pipeline. The device has drawn interest from the medical and analyst community because the current generation of the valve, Lotus, is known for having low rates of paravalvular leak (PVL). The Lotus Edge has been described as being designed to maintain those low PVL rates while also reducing permanent pacemaker implant rates with its Depth Guard technology. The company halted commercial implants of the Lotus Edge last year after a locking issue with one pin of the valve's commisure was observed in seven of roughly 200 commercial implants (4%).  Then, the company recalled all of its Lotus valves from the market in February after getting reports of a similar mechanical problem with a pin that connects the valve to the ...
Source: MDDI - Category: Medical Devices Authors: Tags: Medical Device Business Cardiovascular Source Type: news