Coronary Artery Disease

Coronary artery disease occurs when a fatty substance builds up within the walls of the arteries affecting the blood flow to the heart. Providing products that deliver treatment for heart and vascular diseases represents a large and growing market opportunity for Endovasc.

Approximately half of all patients who become critically ill due to blood vessel blockage are treated with interventional surgical procedures, such as bypass surgery or angioplasty. Bypass refers to an invasive surgical procedure which creates new passages for blood to flow to the heart muscle by taking blood vessels from other parts of the body and grafting them so that they re-route blood around the clogged artery.

Alternatively, angioplasty involves inserting a catheter into an artery (often the femoral artery) and maneuvering it into the affected coronary artery(ies) in the heart. The catheter contains a balloon tip, which is quickly inflated at the site of the blockage. This forces the narrowed vessel open allowing the blood to flow once again.

Unfortunately, as angioplasties became more common, physicians noticed that as many as 20-25 percent of the treated arteries suffered from restenosis, or a re-blockage of the vessel. Stents, metal wire meshes that serve as a type of scaffolding to keep the treated arteries open, helped reduce the need for repeat angioplasties, but they have not eliminated this concern.

In 2003, angioplasty patients are now able to receive stents that are coated with drugs such as Rapamycin (SIRROLIMIS) or Taxol derivatives (PACLITAXEL) that are designed to prevent restenosis.  In spite of FDA approval, these drug coatings remain problematic to the public.

PROStent Potential Therapy Process

To understand how our potential stent-coating technology may offer a unique therapy in CVD, by not only potentially targeting the diseased area specifically, but by time-releasing the drug for maximum therapeutic benefit.  See the images below.