March 4, 2009 - W. L. Gore & Associates has earned a spot on Fast Company magazine’s 2009 “Fast 50” list of the world’s most innovative companies, partly for its development of the GORE HELEX Septal Occluder.
Gore is ranked number 30 and appears in the magazine’s March issue.
Fast Company magazine highlights Gore’s Medical Products Division, which has provided creative therapeutic solutions to complex medical problems for three decades. During that time, more than 25 million innovative Gore medical devices have been implanted. The Gore Medical family of products includes vascular grafts, endovascular and interventional devices, surgical meshes for hernia repair, soft tissue reconstruction, staple line reinforcement and sutures for use in vascular, cardiac and general surgery.
One such device referred to in the “Fast 50” list was the GORE HELEX Septal Occluder for the treatment of atrial septal defect (ASD), a congenital heart defect that affects thousands of patients every year. The GORE HELEX Septal Occluder is the first device of its kind to use ePTFE, a biocompatible material that allows progressive tissue ingrowth, to help seal the defect. Approved by the FDA in 2006, the device is permanently implanted in a minimally invasive procedure through a catheter-based delivery system for the treatment of ASD. In December 2008, the GORE HELEX Septal Occluder became part of an FDA-approved clinical study designed to demonstrate the safety and effectiveness of the device for Patent Foramen Ovale (PFO) closure in patients with a PFO and history of cryptogenic stroke.
For more information: www.goremedical.com, www.FastCompany.com
July 14, 2023 
