BSDM's MTX-180 Debuts in Europe - Analyst Blog

Cancer treatment systems maker BSD Medical Corp (BSDM) has successfully rolled out its first MicroThermX Microwave Ablation (MTX-180) system for soft tissue ablation (destruction) in Europe. The Utah-based company has shipped the MTX-180 to Med-Italia Biomedica (Med-Italia), a leading distributor of products for the interventional radiology/oncology market in Italy. BSD Medical's ablation products are targeted at this market.   

BSD Medical's representatives will be attending the first clinical use of the tissue device in Europe. The European premiere, which will take place in Torino, Italy, will involve the treatment of a patient with large hepatic (liver) tumor.

BSD Medical introduced the MTX-180 in the U.S. in December 2010. The company successfully placed three of these devices at clinical sites across Utah and Michigan. BSD Medical is in the final phase of implementing a dedicated global distribution network and expanding its marketing and sales force to support the worldwide roll-out of its MicroThermX products. The company is using the network of specialty distribution firms, which market products in the interventional radiology area.

The MTX-180, which was approved in the U.S. in August 2010, leverages BSD Medical's proprietary synchronous phased array technology to deliver precision-guided microwave energy to ablate soft tissues using a single-patient-use disposable antenna.

Soft tissues are tissues that connect, support or surround non-skeletal structures and include muscle, ligament, tendon, fascia, blood vessels, nerves and fat. Ablation therapies are widely used in cancers of soft issues (soft tissue sarcoma). 

The minimally-invasive MTX-180 has been developed to provide treatments as a stand-alone therapy and has applications in open surgical and percutaneous (via needle-puncture of the skin) ablation procedures. As such, it can be used by both surgeons and interventional radiologists.

Currently, radiofrequency (“RF”) energy is most commonly used to deliver ablation therapy in the interventional oncology market. The MTX-180 system offers several key advantages over the legacy RF-based systems including delivery of wider ablation zones in less time employing microwave energy.

BSD Medical competes with established players like Boston Scientific (BSX) and Angiodynamics (ANGO) in the thermal ablation market. The global market potential for soft tissue ablation has been estimated to exceed $2.3 billion, offering a significant opportunity for BSD Medical.