Cook's Medical still growing

The company is a long time veteran in the stent business and not too long ago I had an interview posted here on the blog. The interview related to stents, coated with antibiotics. As the business for stents continues to grow, it seems so does Cook.

A new products on the horizon is a flexible metal stent called a Zilver PTX Drug Eluting Peripheral Stent for individuals with peripheral arterial disease, a result of hardening of the arteries. Clinical Trials are in place and it has not yet been approved by the FDA.

Peripheral arterial disease affects more than 30 million people worldwide, and while it can strike anyone, it's most common in people over age 65.

PAD develops most often as a result of the hardening of arteries (atherosclerosis), which occurs when cholesterol levels and/or scar tissue build up, causing the arteries to narrow and restrict blood flow.

The Zilver® PTX™ stent uses the drug paclitaxel. It is intended to reduce the amount of tissue build-up inside the stent after being put in place. There is potential here to relieve and reduce suffering for many who have restricted and hardened arteries. BD

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Perched on a stool in front of a high- powered microscope, Jenifer Priddy picked up a flexible mesh tube, placed it under the lens and took a long look. "You don't want to see any flaws or foreign matter," said Priddy, an inspector at Cook Group in Bloomington. "That means there's a problem." Cook, which makes medical devices used by doctors and hospitals around the world, hasn't seen many problems lately, either in its microscopes or its business results.

"I don't want to use the term 'recession-proof,' but we're doing quite well," spokesman Dave McCarty said. "The medical device sector as a whole is a good place to be."

Some medical device companies, however, aren't as fortunate as Cook, and are feeling a few bumps.

One of its newest products, a flexible metal stent called a Zilver PTX Drug Eluting Peripheral Stent, could give Cook a big boost if it passes muster with federal regulators.

The stent is designed to treat people who have peripheral arterial disease, a condition that affects about 10 million Americans a year.