Abbott To Strengthen Vascular Care Arm With Surmodics Deal

Abbott (NYSE:ABT) has recently entered into an agreement with In Vitro Diagnostics technologies player, Surmodics, Inc. (NASDAQ:SRDX) . Per the terms of the deal, the former will have exclusive worldwide commercialization rights over Surmodics' SurVeil drug-coated balloon. The deal remains aligned with Abbott’s focus to expand its broad line of vascular care products.

Notably, the SurVeil drug-coated balloon by Surmodics is used to treat the superficial femoral artery and is under evaluation in a U.S. pivotal clinical trial. Significantly, this new-generation device is likely to complement and extend the company’s vascular devices portfolio including stents and vessel closure devices for addressing peripheral artery disease (PAD).

Per the American Heart Association, PAD is the narrowing of arteries causing reduced blood flow to the legs, stomach, arms and head. According to Abbott, this condition is often underdiagnosed leading to other serious vascular conditions. In this regard, drug-coated balloons have emerged an important treatment option for the treatment of PAD.

Globally, over 200 million people are affected with PAD while 12-20% of Americans alone aged above 60 years are suffering from the disease. Undoubtedly, the market for the therapies related to this indication looks lucrative.

Per Abbott, the SurVeil drug-coated balloon holds greater promises in capturing the market compared with traditional devices. This is because it includes a proprietary drug-excipient formulation for a durable balloon coating and is manufactured using an innovative process to improve coating uniformity.

Pre-clinical data for SurVeil has shown a three- to five-times higher target tissue drug concentration, a more evenly distributed and durable drug effect, and lower incidence of downstream drug particles in comparison to the control drug-coated balloon.

Accordingly, the Surmodics deal seems highly strategic from Abbott’s point of view in monopolizing the huge and growing market for PAD-regulating drug-coated balloons.

Apart from SurVeil-related pact, Abbott has choices to negotiate agreements for Surmodics' below-the-knee and arteriovenous fistula drug-coated balloon products, currently in pre-clinical development.

Per data by ReportsnReports, the global market for peripheral vascular interventions including lower extremity stents, percutaneous transluminal angioplasty (PTA) balloons, PTA drug-eluting balloons, carotid stents and renal stents is estimated to rise from $2.1 billion in 2015 to $3.4 billion by 2022 at a CAGR of 6.8%.

Two major players in the drug coated balloons market are Medtronic, Inc. (NYSE:MDT) and Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) .

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