The case: When Boston Scientific needed a way to prevent scar tissue from covering up its coronary stents, it turned to a little-known company called Angiotech Pharmaceuticals. The odd partnership yielded one of the most financially successful medical devices in history—and signaled a new way for medical-device companies to improve their wares. In 1996, johnson & Johnson was the undisputed king of bare-metal stents. Stents are the mesh tubes that prevent arterial collapse after balloon angioplasty, the principal treatment for atherosclerosis: A balloon is inserted into an artery to clear away plaque and is removed. Then a stent containing another balloon is inserted into the artery. The balloon is inflated to open the blocked artery and push the stent against the arterial walls; this balloon is then deflated and removed. J & J held a strong patent portfolio that gave it dominance in the U.S. stent market. It also led in Europe, where it faced stiffer competition.
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