AorTech, St Jude reaches milestone
This article was originally published in Clinica
Executive Summary
Biomaterials and medical device company AorTech International has received a milestone payment from its partnership with St Jude Medical. The payment - the result of a supply agreement established between the two companies in mid-2006 (see Clinica No 1201, p 18) - extends the exclusive use of AorTech's Elast-Eon 2 biomaterial in the field of cardiac pacing, ICD and cardiac monitoring leads, for an indefinite length of time. AorTech CEO Frank Maguire stated that the milestone payment formed part of the company's revenue expectations for 2008. The supply agreement also includes an extra optional milestone payment on the issue of new AorTech polymer intellectual property, which the company says would occur in the fourth quarter of 2009. According to Surrey, UK-based AorTech, its range of Elast-Eon polymers are widely accepted as being very biostable, making them suitable for long-term implantation.