Abbott Makes Its Play In Stents

Ever since Abbott Laboratories Inc. broke into the interventional cardiology market with a splash in November 1999 with its acquisition of femoral artery closure company, Perclose Inc. , industry executives have been waiting for the company's next big cardiovascular deal. [See Deal] (See "Abbott: Cracking the Cardiology Cartel," IN VIVO, May 2001 [A#2001800111) Rumors abounded, with Boston Scientific Corp. the target most often mentioned. But rather than use its considerable resources to pursue a major acquisition that would provide a broad-based product line, Abbott's cardiology strategy has been to utilize a series of smaller deals to assemble a group of niche technologies, including embolic protection devices (MedNova Ltd. and Rubicon Medical Inc.) and a technology for crossing total occlusions (LuMend Inc. ). [See Deal], [See Deal], [See Deal] Also among these was a November 1999 licensing and distribution deal with Biocompatibles International PLC for coated stent technology. [See Deal]

Abbott has generally avoided going head-to-head with any of the major cardiovascular device players in traditional product markets such as coronary stents. But that is about to change. Its acquisition...