These 10 stories mattered the most for medtech in 2020

10. Boston Sci throws in the towel on Lotus TAVR

The hotly contested space of transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) lost one of its main competitors in November when Boston Scientific initiated the global, voluntary recall of its Lotus TAVR device and subsequent device retirement.

The company is instead focusing on its Acurate neo2 aortic valve system — apparently ceding ground for now to the dominant TAVR space players, Edwards Lifesciences and Medtronic.

Boston Scientific’s decision came down to the complexities related to the product delivery system and, considering the additional time and investment needed to develop and reintroduce an enhanced system, the company chose to retire the device and cease all related commercial, clinical, R&D and manufacturing activities.

Boston Scientific confirmed that the valve achieved positive and clinically effective performance post-implant, and said that patients currently implanted with the device do not have any safety issues to be concerned about.

The company’s decision had wide-ranging implications, though, as layoffs in Minnesota were followed by further position eliminations in Ireland, all related to the retiring of Lotus.

“We’re clearly disappointed by the news, but we make difficult choices in our portfolio to maximize shareholder value,” Boston Scientific chairman & CEO Mike Mahoney said at the Evercore ISI 2020 HealthCONx Conference. “We wanted to be very objective about our current position with Lotus and more importantly what we saw as the future of the next two to three years.

“Essentially, the cost to invest to further advance the Lotus device and its delivery system, plus the timeline to do that and make it more of a workhorse valve, wasn’t feasible compared to other options we had.” – SW

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