Terumo Corporation (TSE: 4543 Section 1) today announced that it has entered into an agreement regarding exclusive acquisition right for the treatment of coronary artery disease with Arterial Remodeling Technologies S.A. (hereinafter "ART"), a French company developing bioresorbable scaffold technology. The companies will also enter into joint development of drug-eluting bioresorbable scaffold, with Terumo making gradual R&D investment into ART going forward. The impact by such agreements on the company’s performance of this fiscal year will be limited.
1. Bioresorbable Scaffold
A stent is an implant device used in the treatment of angina pectoris, myocardial infarction, and other coronary events caused by blood vessels around the heart that are stenosed or blocked. In recent years, drug-eluting stents are widely used with the expectation that they will reduce tissue proliferation after implantation, which may cause restenosis (narrowing of the treated part of the vessel), by the stent gradually releasing its drug into surrounding tissues.
Bioresorbable scaffold, which biodegrades and is resorbed inside the body, has garnered attention as the next generation of stent technology. Because it does not remain in the body as metal stent does, bioresorbable scaffold is expected to reduce thrombosis and the duration of antiplatelet therapy. Over 5 million stents are in annual use worldwide; according to a presentation of major academic conference, it is expected that in 2020 there will be 6.5 million in use, of which over half will be bioresorbable scaffold.
2. Objectives of obtaining exclusive acquisition right
In the coronary intervention field, Terumo currently sells the drug-eluting stent "Nobori™" in countries including Europe and Japan, and plans to launch its next-generation "Ultimaster™," which has received the CE mark, in June 2014. By also selling bioresorbable scaffold, Terumo plans to achieve growth in both the bioresorbable and metal drug-eluting stent/scaffold fields.
Terumo aims to reach 50 billion yen at the peak of overall stent sales including both bioresorbable and metal drug-eluting stent/scaffold.
3. Overview of ART
Name Arterial Remodeling Technologies S.A. (ART)
Head Office 3, rue de Verdun - Bât.G
78590 Noisy le Roi
France
Representative Machiel van der Leest
Establishment 2002
No. of Employee 9
Main Activities The development of bioresorbable scaffold
(Notice) Among the information that Terumo discloses, the forward-looking statements including financial projections are based upon our assumptions using information available to us at the time and are not intended to be guarantees of future events or performance. Accordingly, it should be noted that actual results may differ from those forecasts on projections due to various factors. Factors affecting to actual results include, but are not limited to, changes in economic conditions surrounding Terumo, fluctuations of foreign exchange rates, and state of competition. The market share information in this press release is partly derived from our own independent research.
