Shanghai, China - May 24, 2019 - MicroPort Scientific Corporation ("MicroPort®", HK:0853) announced today that Firehawk® Rapamycin Target Eluting Coronary Stent System ("Firehawk®") has obtained reimbursement in France. This decision by the French Economic Committee for Health Products (CEPS) was published in the French Journal Officiel (JO) today.
This positive outcome is based on the convincing clinical data from the Firehawk® TARGET All-Comers (TARGET AC) trial, a prospective, multi-center, randomized controlled clinical trial consisting of entirely European-based patients with ischemic coronary artery disease. In September 2018, the 12-month results of the Firehawk® TARGET AC trial were published in the world leading medical journal the Lancet. This is the first time that clinical data from a China manufactured drug eluting stent has been published in the Lancet since its first publication nearly 200 years ago. In May 2019, MicroPort® announced 24-month follow-up results at EuroPCR 2019, which will be supported by a concomitant publication in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology (JACC).
Firehawk® is a drug-eluting stent system that features strut in-groove coating and precision target drug-releasing patent technology. Almost 600 grooves are evenly cut in the strut of Firehawk®, which is made of the hair-thin and extremely hard CoCr alloy. The drug is precisely loaded into the micro grooves by applying fully automatic 3D printing to achieve micro groove-filling. Firehawk® combines the merits of bare metal stent and drug-eluting stent, which allows it to achieve the same clinical efficacy with significantly lower drug loading.
Firehawk® received the CE Mark in 2015. This reimbursement allows MicroPort® to widen its access to one of the most important European market for coronary stents. MicroPort® will continue with its commitment to release more high-quality, innovative and high-end medical devices to France, to provide the French patients with more comprehensive therapeutic solutions.