Synthetic Coronary Artery Bypass Graft Under Development

CardioTech International (Woburn, MA) announced it will develop a synthetic coronary artery bypass graft (CABG). The CardioPass graft will be made from the company's patented ChronoFlex polyurethane, which has been shown to be biodurable after three years of canine implantation. CardioPass has also been shown to provide a good scaffold for seeding with endothelial cells.

Development of a successful CABG has a potential market of $1.5 billion worldwide. At present, saphenous veins from the patient's own legs must be used as a bypass graft.

During clinical trials, the graft will likely be used in patients whose saphenous veins are unavailable due to disease or previous use. The company estimates that up to 20% of the more than 900,000 CABG procedures
done per year worldwide involve patients having few or no suitable native saphenous veins.

Edited by Ursula Jones