Seoul, Korea – From September 12 to 14, the 12th Annual Symposium of the Endovascular & Coronary Revascularization in Seoul (Encore Seoul 2018) took place in Seoul, Korea. More than 3,000 cardiologists from 18 countries were invited to attend the event, conducting comprehensive exchanges and discussions on the latest progress of the advanced therapies and clinical researches in the field of cardiology. Shanghai MicroPort Medical (Group) Co., Ltd. ("MicroPort®") was present throughout the symposium and held an exclusive Firehawk® satellite conference, which showcased the latest clinical data and scientific results of Firehawk® Rapamycin Target Eluting Coronary Stent System ("Firehawk®").
On September 13, Professor Niels Van Royen from Radboud University Medical Center, Netherlands, who was one of the investigators of the Firehawk® TARGET AC clinical study, introduced during the Featured Lecture session the latest clinical data of Firehawk®, which was published on the website of the world leading medical journal The Lancet on September 3 UK time. 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.
During the symposium, Professor Hyo-Soo Kim, who was one of the directors of Encore Seoul 2018, along with the experts from other countries, spoke highly of the innovative process of Firehawk® and the rigorous design of the TARGET AC study. Professor Justin Davies from Hammersmith Hospital, UK, Professor Giulio Stefanini from Humanitas Research Hospital, Italy, and Ariel Finkelstein from Tel Aviv Medical Center, Tel-Aviv, Israel had a heated discussion about Firehawk® and praised the product and the related research results. Professor Hyo-Soo Kim said in the concluding remark that the in-groove design of the new generation coronary stent Firehawk® demonstrates evident advantages and delivers excellent clinical outcome. He added that he expected the ongoing Firehawk® clinical trial in Korea to achieve outstanding results.
On September 14, the Firehawk® satellite conference happened as scheduled with every seat occupied and Professor Yang-Soo Jang, another director of Encore Seoul 2018 as guest moderator. During the event, Professor Niels van Royen spoke about the Firehawk® TARGET AC clinical study results and the OCT and QCA sub-study results. The participating prominent cardiologists in Korea, including Professor Jung Hwan Kim, Professor Ki Seok Kim and Professor Jae Woong Cho had a heated scientific discussion with Professor Niels van Royen.
Afterwards, Professor Chun-Wei Lee from Mackay Memorial Hospital, Taiwan and Professor Seung-Woon Rha from Korea University Guro Hospital spoke about the clinical experience of the application of Firehawk® in the complex lesions including the opening of the culprit vessel, CTO lesion and acute heart failure, and they were full of praise for the performance of Firehawk®. At the end of the satellite conference, Professor Seung-Woon Rha introduced the ongoing Firehawk® clinical study in Korea, adding that he hoped Firehawk® would benefit more Korean patients in the future. He also expected MicroPort® to successfully develop the more outstanding stent products of new generation.
As one of the most important markets in Asia-Pacific, the medical device market in Korea is very promising. Firehawk® entered the Korean market in 2017, with its first local implantation completed in March 2018. With more high-quality clinical data expected to be published and the progress of the Firehawk® clinical study in Korea, MicroPort® will continuously further explore the local market, so as to provide the patients with more comprehensive and best, yet affordable, medical solutions.