Boston Scientific's Vercise System Has Therapeutic Edge - Analyst Blog

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According to a new clinical study, Boston Scientific Corporation's BSX Vercise Deep Brain Stimulation DBS System possesses a therapeutic edge on grounds of a distinctive ability to treat patients suffering from Parkinson's disease.

Results of the Boston Scientific CUSTOM-DBS study were presented at the 18th International Congress of Parkinson's Disease and Movement Disorders in Stockholm, Sweden. It involved 15 patients who were previously implanted with the Vercise DBS system. These patients were examined using test and control pulse widths.

DBS is a surgical treatment method involving the placement of a device that stimulates specific areas of the brain using electrical signals, and in turn, helps in controlling Parkinson's disease symptoms.

The Vercise DBS System is the only commercially available platform designed to generate stimulation pulses at shorter width settings, which provide larger therapeutic windows. Therapeutic window refers to the range of electrical currents that can provide effective treatment without bringing about any side effect..

As per the CUSTOM-DBS study, shorter stimulation pulses have a potential clinical advantage over conventional DBS therapy. This is because larger therapeutic windows results in avoidance of stimulation-related side effects and offer effective therapy.

In the CUSTOM-DBS study, shorter electrical pulses compared to conventional settings were used to stimulate the patients' DBS implants. In order to compare the two settings, the standard UPDRS III score assessment for Parkinson's disease was used to estimate the stimulation efficacy.

The study results also revealed that the shorter pulse width settings with the Vercise System require less electrical energy to achieve optimal therapy. This indicates that there may also be energy efficiency advantages when using these settings.

According to reliable sources, the CUSTOM-DBS study distinguishes the Vercise DBS System from all other comparable technologies, as having the ability to provide better patient outcomes through this new stimulation approach, using shorter electrical pulses. This also happens to be one of the first studies that offer Level I evidence of a clinical advantage to specific deep brain stimulation settings, such as shorter pulse widths.

Boston Scientific is an innovation leader in implantable DBS technology. The Vercise DBS System possesses both CE Mark and TGA (Australia Therapeutic Goods Administration) approval and is available for sale in Europe, Israel, Australia and select countries in Latin America for Parkinson's disease. It also has CE Mark approval for intractable primary and secondary dystonia.

In the U.S., the Vercise DBS System is under investigation at present and is not yet available for use or sale. The INTREPID clinical trial began enrolment in the U.S. in mid-2013 to estimate the safety and effectiveness of the Vercise DBS System in treating patients having Parkinson's disease.

Boston Scientific currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). Some better-ranked medical product stocks that warrant a look include Cardica Inc. CRDC, Eagle Pharmaceuticals Inc. EGRX and NeuroMetrix Inc. NURO. All the three stocks carry a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).


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