Boston Scientific acquires Galway company Labcoat

HEALTHCARE and medical devices giant, Boston Scientific has &acquired Galway company, Labcoat Ltd for an undisclosed sum.

Boston employs around 5,000 people in its operations in Galway, Cork, Letterkenny and Clonmel. It has been working with Labcoat — a privately-owned Galway- based company, employing 30 people — for a number of years on various collaborations.

Boston said that the time was right to buy the company. This view was based on Labcoat developing a unique technology for coating the outer layers of stents with drugs, designed to reduce the amount of polymer and drug to which the patients’ vessel wall is exposed.

“This technology represents a major advance for drug-eluting stents and should help us maintain our strong position in this market,” said Jim Tobin, president and chief executive of Boston Scientific.

It is hoped that the new product will be made commercial in the near future, once regulatory approval in Europe is attained.

Boston also reiterated its loyalty to the Irish market, saying that it was always on the look-out to improve its R&D capabilities here as the country has such “great potential” for medical research.