April 12, 2012 – Abbott announced approval from the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare (MHLW) for the next-generation Xience Prime Everolimus-Eluting Coronary Stent System for the treatment of coronary artery disease. XIENCE PRIME, which uses the same drug and biocompatible polymer as the XIENCE V Everolimus Eluting Coronary Stent System, features an enhanced stent design and a delivery system designed for greater flexibility, ideal radial strength, excellent longitudinal strength and more accurate stent placement. With this approval in Japan, XIENCE PRIME is available in all of the major markets worldwide, including the United States, Europe, China, India and other countries in the Asia-Pacific and Latin America regions.

April 16, 2012 - 480 Biomedical announced that it has initiated the first human trial of its groundbreaking Stanza self-expanding bioresorbable scaffold for the treatment of peripheral artery disease (PAD) in the superficial femoral artery (SFA). The Stanza scaffold restores blood flow to the leg by propping open the diseased artery during the critical healing period, similar to conventional metal stents, but then is resorbed by the body. Observations from the first patients in the STANCE trial were reported on April 14 at the 34th Charing Cross International Symposium in London.

April 15, 2012 - St. Jude Medical Inc., a global medical device company, announced CE Mark Approval of the Ellipse implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD). Designed with feedback from more than 200 physicians from around the world, the Ellipse ICD provides the benefits of advanced features and power in the industry’s smallest high-energy ICD.

April 13, 2012 — Researchers at The Ohio State University (OSU) Wexner Medical Center have successfully used nanotechnology to target a protein that plays a key role in atherosclerosis and inflammation, and say the study is an important advance toward using immunotherapy to simultaneously diagnose and treat cardiovascular disease.

April 12, 2012 - Abiomed Inc., a provider of heart support technologies, announced it has received CE marking approval in the European Union to market the Impella cVAD device, a new percutaneous Impella heart pump that provides peak flow of approximately 4 liters of blood per minute. The Impella cVAD is designed to provide temporary circulatory support via a minimally invasive, catheter-based pump that is insertedpercutaneously, without the need for surgical intervention.