Drug-eluting stent pricing
This article was originally published in The Gray Sheet
Executive Summary
J&J/Cordis's apparent European drug-eluting stent bundling scheme will ultimately impair the firm's ability to compete once competitors launch similar devices in Europe, according to Boston Scientific. "J&J's most recent pricing list, which offers a range of prices down to $1,500, is very explicitly not a geographically-based price list, but a volume-based price list," Boston Scientific Cardiovascular President Paul LaViolette tells investors April 16. "I think the reception in the market place to that pricing scheme is generally negative, so it will be less an issue of us fending off J&J from bundling and more of an issue of the customers battling J&J." Cordis launched the Cypher sirolimus-eluting stent April 12, following CE mark approval. Boston Scientific expects a CE mark for its NIRx in approximately six months...