The Top Medical Device Stories of 2004
Executive Summary
In Vivo revisits the top stories impacting the medical device industry in 2004: Concentric and Cyberonics evidence an increased scrutiny on clinical data; the merger of J&J and Guidant rocks the cardiovascular industry; the FDA approval of Roche's Amplichip CYP450 paves the regulatory pathway for a new generation of clinical diagnostic tests based on microarrays; cardiac rhythm management expands to congestive heart failure patients; the first FDA approvals for stroke devices; in spine, the first FDA approval of the total artificial disc; and investigations and prosecutions by the Department of Justice strike at the heart of the device industry.