Dr. Martin B. Leon praised Israeli cardiology technologies at the Innovations in Cardiovascular Intervention Conference in Tel Aviv last week. "Israel is one of the most amazing places in the world for invasive cardiology technologies, alongside the US. This may be the best place in the world for creative breakthrough technologies that truly revolutionize products."
Leon also sharply criticized the media. "The media depicts an exaggerated bleak picture as if many patients do not receive the best possible care," said Leon. "Sometimes, the media is in such a rush for a story that it causes real harm to medicine."
One topic at the conference was the use of stents and reports that they do not prolong lives and do not justify the risks inherent in their use. Cardiologists replied that the stents that were the subject of the studies were no longer in use, or were used incorrectly, thereby causing high rates of damage. They added that data on the use of stents and the quality of life alone justified their use.
Dr. Leon is chairman of the Cardiovascular Research Foundation, the associate director of the Center for Interventional Vascular Therapy at Columbia University Medical Center, and practices at New York Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center. He told "Globes" that, in his opinion, second and third-generation stents that are coated in drugs offer significant improvement in safety profiles. He admitted, however, that no one can guarantee this.
Leon criticized over-reaching claims about the effectiveness in drug-coated stents. "We thought, 'That's it. We've solved the problem of heart disease.' The product is based on stents and polymers that have already been approved. Today, I can tell you that that we haven’t developed the best drug-coated stent that we could have," he said in his lecture.
Leon added, however, "This product has changed the face of cardiology. The condition of heart patients has never been better."
Leon noted a number of developments, which he thinks will change cardiology: dissolving stents, which are undergoing phase I clinical trials; heart valves that are implanted by catheterization, without the need for open heart surgery; and stem cells that will recreate damaged heart tissue. He noted that Israel was very strong in this last area.
Edwards Lifesciences Israel (formerly Percutaneous Valve Technologies Inc.) is one company developing a less invasive devise for implanting heart valves.
Leon also noted "the explosion in imaging technologies", including for the diagnosis of plaque vulnerability. Topspin Medical Inc. (TASE:TOPMD) is developing technologies in this field.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on December 9, 2007
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