Philips and Corindus Collaborate in Percutaneous Coronary Interventions

Royal Philips Electronics (Philips, Amsterdam, The Netherlands) and Corindus (Natick, USA) have announced an alliance agreement to add the Corindus robotic-assisted system for minimally invasive treatment of obstructed coronary arteries to the Philips arsenal of interventional cardiology solutions.

The Corindus CorPath 200 System, designed to provide precise, robotic-assisted placement of coronary guidewires and stent or balloon catheters in percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) procedures, is expected to complement Philips' expertise and leadership in interventional imaging and clinical informatics. The financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed, but it has been made known that as part of the alliance agreement, Philips has acquired a minority stake in Corindus. The CorPath open-platform technology and intellectual property will also enable Corindus to address other segments of the vascular market, including peripheral, neurological, and structural heart applications.

"Personalized and less invasive treatments are the way forward in patient care. As part of our strategy, Philips is committed to delivering integrated interventional solutions for image-guided minimally invasive procedures by working closely with hospitals and industrial partners in different application spaces,” said Steve Rusckowski, CEO of Philips Healthcare. "Corindus' advanced interventional tool designed for percutaneous coronary interventions opens up further possibilities of reducing the strain on cardiologists, helping to advance patient care.”

"Everything in the catheterization lab, from X-ray imaging to coronary stents to contrast media, has advanced significantly over the past thirty years. However, the procedural process itself has remained largely unchanged,” said David Handler, president and CEO of Corindus. "We are excited by the possibility of putting the power of remote precision robotic control into the hands of interventional cardiologists. Partnering with Philips will strengthen our ability to develop integrated technologies, with the ultimate objective of advancing interventional cardiology.”

Corindus announced in March 2011 that the first patients had been enrolled in the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved CorPath PRECISE trial, which is expected to enlist 175 patients at leading medical centers across the United States. The results of this study will be the basis for a premarket clearance 510 application of the Corindus CorPath 200 System, which is currently limited by the FDA to investigational use only.

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