Frost & Sullivan Recognizes Japan Stent Technology for Its Pioneering Coronary Stent Design

LONDON, Jan. 28 /PRNewswire/ -- Based on its recent research on the medical devices market, Frost & Sullivan presents Japan Stent Technology with the 2009 European Frost & Sullivan Award for Enabling Technology for its contributions to advancing localized drug delivery in the coronary care segment. The company is on the cutting edge of a new era in medical device care that is witnessing a merging of device and pharmaceutical therapy. Drug-hybrid technologies provide a revolutionary advantage over standard forms of therapy and Japan Stent has both bare-metal stents and drug-eluting stents that are designed effectively in preventing restenosis in arteries.

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Restenosis is a major concern in stenting procedures and often a fatal post-surgical complication. Japan Stent has deeply researched this issue to develop a new stent design that can be easily delivered into the artery with minimal endothelial abrasions. Another major difficulty surgeons' face on the operating table is the kinking and flaring behaviour of the metallic wire mesh. Japan Stent's bare metal stents do not kink or flare even at their maximum flexibility. The company's patented drug eluting stent is based on the conventional DLC coating method and diffusion of polymer and drug technology. The device is in its non-clinical study and is expected to get commercialized soon.

Excellent clinical results have corroborated the efficacy of the company's coronary stent along with the salient features such as high radial force and flexibility, minimal stimulus to vascular endothelium and optimization of stent design for all sites. All these breakthrough features of Japan Stent's bare metal stent have culminated in the product being approved with a Conformite Europeenne (CE) mark certificate. Regulatory approval of the stent was based on exceptional clinical data obtained in a comprehensive clinical program.

"As the premier bare-metal stent system in the market, Japan Stent Technology's coronary stent lives up to its reputation by truly delivering what other stent systems do not. Its stent system's achievement of receiving the CE mark approval speaks volumes about its capabilities," says Frost & Sullivan Research Analyst Sreevidhya Praveen. "Apparently, this bare metal stent system illustrates exceptional characteristics that will position it well in the approximately $1 billion international bare metal stent market. This eventually lays a platform for Japan Stent's promising passive and drug-eluting coating systems that are currently under non-clinical study."

Japan Stent caters to the various needs of the customers by providing complete solutions for coronary stents. The company's innovations are promoted through close associations with the customers and their needs and requirements are continuously met with. Besides a strong research and development (R&D) team with substantial amount of experience, friendly and active communication within the team, and spontaneously organized meetings when needed, have all helped in generating a positive, creative and team spirit within the organization. The company has major clientele, which include medical equipment manufacturers, trading houses, retail dealers and university laboratories.

Overall, Japan Stent takes pride in being an innovation-oriented company, as the products manufactured are advanced, extremely customized, and innovative. The company contributes to safer and more economical medical treatment by producing unique drug eluting stents and functional surface coating of medical devices.

"Whether the next generations of products in coronary stents would incorporate new drug-polymer combinations or gene and cell therapy is not known," notes Praveen. "However, Japan Stent has the expertise to collaborate with any of those industry innovators."

For these achievements, Japan Stent Technology is the worthy recipient of the 2009 European Frost & Sullivan Award for Enabling Technology for in the coronary care medical devices market. Each year, Frost & Sullivan presents this award to a company that has developed new technologies and/or products or enhanced existing products. The award recognizes the recipient's ability to expand into new applications, create industry standards and get end-users to recognize and transition to the new innovation.

Frost & Sullivan Best Practices Awards recognize companies in a variety of regional and global markets for demonstrating outstanding achievement and superior performance in areas such as leadership, technological innovation, customer service, and strategic product development. Industry analysts compare market participants and measure performance through in-depth interviews, analysis, and extensive secondary research in order to identify best practices in the industry.

About Japan Stent Technology

Japan Stent Technology globally contributes to the medical treatment through the business in Okayama prefecture based on new drug coating stent and functional surface coating of medical devices developed in universities. Founded in 2003, the company has devoted significant resources to bringing a family of proprietary endovascular products to market. These products are focused in the emerging markets of stent technology and chronic occlusions. The company has international standards of competitive design, fabrication, polishing, and medical coating of Stent features for medical instrument surface application technology.

Japan Stent designs and manufactures medical instruments such as stents for coronaria, head arteria carotis, and bile passage and catheters. Its major product includes stents, guidewires and catheters which are customized to the needs of the users.  Medical instruments are processed using advanced technologies such as Laser machining, carbon coating and biocompatibility, and surface functionalized polymer coating. Available technologies with Japan Stent include stent designing, fine laser processing, stent medical coating, metal surface polishing, and material surface functionalizing.

With its ISO certified stent design, the company has received grant money from the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry of Japan, Okayama Government, NEDO, National Institute of Biomedical Innovation, etc.

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    Best Practices, 
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