Leading medical devices player Boston Scientific Corporation (BSX) presented long-term safety data from the Research in Severe Asthma (RISA) trial.
The study revealed that patients with severe refractory asthma, when treated with Alair bronchial thermoplasty (BT) system experienced stability in lung function and the absence of clinical complications over a 5-year period. The results were presented at the annual meeting of the American Thoracic Society (ATS) in Denver.
In the recent past, additional articles were published that supported positive long-term outcomes from use of BT system. Safety data from the five year AIR trial that compared BT with standard of care for patients with moderate to severe asthma, supported long-term safety profile of BT. Moreover, findings from the Asthma Intervention Research 2 (AIR2) trial show persistence of safety and effectiveness of BT for two years.
Alair was inducted in Boston Scientific’s portfolio with its acquisition of Asthmatx in October 2010. The Alair BT system provides long lasting and improved asthma control for adult patients suffering from severe asthma who have not benefited from current inhaled medications. Alair has been approved in both Europe and the US and is the first device-based asthma treatment approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
Asthma is one of the most common diseases in the world which involves costly treatment process and affects more than 20 million people in the US, according to the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America. About 5%-10% of asthma patients suffer from severe asthma. We believe recent favorable data from the Alair BT should lead to better acceptance of the product going ahead.
We continue to remain concerned about the core businesses where Boston Scientific is witnessing significant pricing pressure and loss of market share. Additionally, economic uncertainty is impacting procedure volume. However, the company has undertaken several acquisitions in the recent past to strengthen its portfolio.
Moreover, the divestiture of Neurovascular business has been a smart move, which enabled it to prepay a portion of the debt thereby improving capital structure.
We are currently Neutral on the stock, which also corresponds to the Zacks #3 Rank (Hold) in the short term.
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