The 11th annual scientific sessions of China Interventional Therapeutics (CIT2013) in partnership with TCT was held on Wednesday, March 20 through Saturday, March 23, 2013 at the China National Convention Center (CNCC). As CIT enters its second decade, a new concept and idealism has slowly emerged beyond the conventional academic exchanges and technical training. Now, the new abbreviation of CIT stands for C-Cooperation, I-Innovation, T-transition and this new interpretation underlies the main theme for this year's event. Dr. Zhaohua Chang, CEO of the Shanghai MicroPort Medical (Group) Co., Ltd. ("the Group") and Qiyi Luo, CTO of the Group, attended both forums: Featured Lecture and Innovation in Vascular Therapies.
The second generation drug-eluting stent Firebird2™ Rapamycin-Eluting CoCr Coronary Stent (the "Firebird2™"), has been well received among cardiologist community. Professor Yan Li from Fourth Military Medical University presented the 18-month clinical follow-up results of FIRE2-DIABETES study, Firebird2™ in the treatment of complex lesions in diabetic patients, which is supervised by Professor Haichang Wang. Compared with foreign-imported DES products, the Major Adverse Cardiac Events (MACE) and Target Lesion Revascularization (TLR) rate were comparable, the safety and efficacy of Firebird2™ were reconfirmed in diabetic patients.
On March 22, the Luncheon Symposium titled "Firebird2™ Clinical Review", chaired by Professor Yong Huo, Costantino R.Costantini, Professor Guosheng Fu, Professor Lang Li and other experts include Feng Zhang, Alfredo E. Rodriguez, and Muhammad Munawar. The 3-year follow-up results from FOCUS study and clinical endpoint data from Argentinean centers were discussed by the panel members. The safety and efficacy of Firebird2™ were consistently proven in the large scale registry study and the important data from randomized controlled trial in complex lesions will be greatly beneficial to patients and cardiologists.
During the last year TCT2012, the exciting clinical data from TARGET trials for our third generation drug-eluting stent, the Firehawk® Rapamycin Target Eluting Coronary Stent (the "Firehawk®"), independently developed by the Group, has been released to the public. During the CIT2013 special Luncheon Symposium on March 21, the study's principal investigator Dr. Runlin Gao, updated TARGET series study of the one-year follow-up clinical results. Martin B. Leon, Professor Wenyi Guo, Professor Hongbing Yan, Runlin Gao actively participated in the discussion forum titled "New Firehawk®DES Platforms: Looking to the Future" sponsored by the Group. All the specialists engaged in a lively discussion on the Firehawk®Target study.
On March 22, Dr. Alexandra Lansky formally announced the combined clinical result from Target I and II based on the data for the primary endpoint of TLF to 12-month target value (OPC, Objective Performance Criteria). There were a total of 1,007 patents enrolled in both trials. The TLF for Firehawk is 3.9% which is lower than the target value of 9%. The major clinical endpoints target was met. To date, all patient enrollments and data collection required for the pre-marketing of Firehawk® have been achieved.
The market size in China represents 400 billion RMB in medical device industry and the annual growth rates reaches as high as 20%. There is a strong fundamental with demographics and global opportunities. As China's population continues to age, cardiovascular disease has risen as one of the greatest threats to individual health. Currently, approximately 230 million people in the country suffer from cardiovascular disease and approximately 3.5 million people die from it each year. According to data released by the cardiovascular interventional diagnosis and treatment management information network of China's Ministry of Health, in 2011 there were more than 330,000 people receiving coronary artery intervention treatment in China. However, compared with developed countries, the penetration in China's operation rate in cardiovascular interventional therapy is still relatively low.
"The DNA of the company, the culture of the company is expressed with our tagline, Where the Patient Always Comes First." Dr. Zhaohua Chang, CEO of the Group said, "A highly dedicated and committed global leadership team is bringing a real zeal for our product portfolio. Our effort on delivering a steady cadence of compelling product innovations to the market really speaks to what we believe. We truly believe that the innovations and products that we have, have a significant impact on patients' lives. We will continuously add to our unique and clinically differentiated portfolio and offer best yet affordable products to the market. In addition, we will maintain our leadership in Coronary Artery Disease field with Firebird™ and Firebird2™ as we did in the past 8 years. The outstanding clinical results published on CIT2013 for our third generation drug-eluting stent device Firehawk® will bring meaningful clinical advances over the current generation of products and position the Group to further capture growth in the market.