Cleveland Clinic shuns Boston Scientific Taxus as stent market broadens
The Cleveland Clinic has made the decision to allow its stent distribution deal with Boston Scientific to expire, as the choice for stents in 2008 has broadened by 50 percent.
The Cleveland Clinic made headlines in late 2006 when it inked an 18-month deal that made Boston Scientific a "preferred vendor," when Johnson & Johnson’s subsidiary Cordis had the only other drug-eluting stent (DES) available in the U.S.
After a nearly four-year drought, more devices are now competing for doctors' attention, and multiple companies will be supplying the Cleveland Clinic for the next year, Mark West, director of supply chain management at the hospital, told CNN Money.
“For the next year, doctors have access to most of the products," West told CNN Money. “We're going to let the doctors use those products for the next 12 months, and then we'll get back down to one or two products.”
He declined to tell CNN Money which of the four U.S. DES makers was not participating with their products. However, spokespeople for three companies—Medtronic, Abbott Laboratories and Cordis—all confirmed that their companies are being trialed at the health system.
Boston Scientific has long held the market share, but its position may show signs of faltering in the newly widened market.
The FDA approved Medtronic’s Endeavor in February, while Abbott won FDA approval for Xience V in July, infusing fresh competition into the U.S. market. Boston Scientific also sells the Abbott-made DES under the name Promus, the result of a profit-sharing deal linked to the 2006 purchase of Guidant.
The Cleveland Clinic made headlines in late 2006 when it inked an 18-month deal that made Boston Scientific a "preferred vendor," when Johnson & Johnson’s subsidiary Cordis had the only other drug-eluting stent (DES) available in the U.S.
After a nearly four-year drought, more devices are now competing for doctors' attention, and multiple companies will be supplying the Cleveland Clinic for the next year, Mark West, director of supply chain management at the hospital, told CNN Money.
“For the next year, doctors have access to most of the products," West told CNN Money. “We're going to let the doctors use those products for the next 12 months, and then we'll get back down to one or two products.”
He declined to tell CNN Money which of the four U.S. DES makers was not participating with their products. However, spokespeople for three companies—Medtronic, Abbott Laboratories and Cordis—all confirmed that their companies are being trialed at the health system.
Boston Scientific has long held the market share, but its position may show signs of faltering in the newly widened market.
The FDA approved Medtronic’s Endeavor in February, while Abbott won FDA approval for Xience V in July, infusing fresh competition into the U.S. market. Boston Scientific also sells the Abbott-made DES under the name Promus, the result of a profit-sharing deal linked to the 2006 purchase of Guidant.