Lake Region Medical Releases Next Generation Guidewires for Cardiovascular and Peripheral Interventions; OEM Well Positioned with Medical Device Companies as New Tax Burden Falls on Industry

Lake Region Medical is extending its global leadership in interventional guidewires and remains well positioned to provide essential R&D partnership opportunities with major Medical Device companies with the release of new guidewires for cardiovascular and peripheral procedures.

Lake Region Medical's expanded product portfolio will be introduced at the 22nd annual Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics (TCT) scientific symposium, sponsored by the Cardiovascular Research Foundation, September 21-25, 2010, in Washington, D.C., at a time when the Medical Device (MD) industry is entering a period during which it must bear a significant tax load under the new U.S. Healthcare bill. The impacts will continue to be newsworthy.

Under provisions of the Patient Protection And Affordable Care Act (PPACA), beginning in 2013, manufacturers, producers and importers of medical devices will pay a 2.3 percent excise tax on all sales, which according to one estimate will amount to some $4 billion annually while having "a significant dampening affect on funding available for future research and development," according to the Advanced Medical Technology Association.

Jim Mellor, vice president of sales and marketing at Lake Region Medical notes, "Leading MD marketers are increasingly focused on core technologies and will rely on vendor partnering relationships to deliver R&D and manufacturing of critical, but non-core devices, such as guidewires and other interventional accessories. For Lake Region Medical, the pressure on major MD companies presents a growing opportunity to further serve the industry." The 64-year-old privately held company based in Minneapolis is the established global leader in guidewires for diagnostic and interventional applications. And it will unveil new guidewire products at TCT designed specifically for interventional applications. The new interventional guidewires are designed around a platform of proprietary technologies. (See Backgrounder).

New products include:

CORONARY GUIDEWIRES:

FLAGSHIP™ Frontline Guidewires – Employ TWISTER™ and MICRORIDGE™ Core Wire Technologies to deliver industry leading frontline performance.

TRAILRUNNER™ Coronary Guidewires – Bi-metal core design enhances frontline performance in procedures requiring a highly excellent deliverability, torque control retention and enough support to deliver most interventional devices.

HYDRATE™ Coronary Guidewires – Provide smooth tracking and excellent steering control for enhanced access in complex anatomy during frontline PTCA.

FLAGSHIP™ HS Crossing Guidewires – Deliver superior crossing performance during difficult lesion cases through a combination of performance enhancing technologies including TWISTER™, MICRORIDGE™ and WEDGE™. FREEWAY™ and

RAILRUNNER™ Coronary Crossing Guidewires – Tapered and non-tapered distal tip designs, excellent torque control and dual tip coatings ensure effective access to highly stenosed lesions during PTCA procedures.

FLAGSHIP™ SB Side-Branch Access Guidewires – Unique J-tip design reduces guidewire prolapse in the main vessel and transmits force in the direction of the target side-branch vessel during PTCA.

EXCURSION™ Transradial Coronary Guidewires – For transradial approach to frontline PTCA. Low-profile design and excellent torque control facilitate guidewire and device delivery in small, tortuous vessel anatomy.

PERIPHERAL GUIDEWIRES:

RAPIDWIRE™ and RAPIDWIRE PLUS™ Peripheral Interventional Guidewires – Provides excellent torque control and distal vessel access within smaller, complex, peripheral vasculature and contralateral interventions.

TAXI® Endoscopic Guidewires – Features dual-colored spiral pattern for enhanced visualization, nitinol core for greater kink resistance, radiopaque distal tip for easy positioning and device exchange, and highly lubricious coating of both tip and wire for enhanced performance in endoscopic procedures.