Cook Medical Applauds Bipartisan U.S. Senate Vote To Repeal 2.3 Percent Medical Device Excise Tax

Bloomington, Ind. — Cook Medical has today officially opened its new state-of-the-art research and development (R&D) Innovation Centre at its plant in Limerick, Ireland.

The Innovation Centre together, with the expansion of cleanrooms, packaging, storage and other facilities, represents an investment of €10million by Cook Medical with the support of the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation through IDA Ireland. This commitment to R&D and a growing product pipeline has increased staff by 100 over the past two years and augurs well for additional employment in the future.

Richard Bruton TD, Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation attending the opening said, “Life sciences is a key sector targeted in our Action Plan for Jobs, and we have put in place a range of changes to support growth in this sector, such as the establishment of a Health Innovation Hub. Today’s announcement that Cook Medical is establishing a state-of-the-art innovation centre in Limerick with an investment of €10million is a very welcome vote of confidence in the sector. I wish them every success and hope that, with the right supports from Government, we can see further growth in the future.”

Significance of the Innovation Centre 

Cook Medical’s Limerick site currently develops peripheral vascular, gastroenterology and urology devices for global distribution. The Innovation Centre is a dedicated space enabling the company to collaborate closely with physicians in its research and development efforts. Equipped with the latest technology to recreate and simulate clinical conditions, it will enable improved device testing and better product design outcomes.
Dr Jan-Werner Poley, Head of Endoscopy at the Erasmus Medical Centre, Rotterdam, comments, “Having been involved in the development of several Cook Medical endoscopy devices, I feel confident that I have the tools I really need. Cook’s Research and Development team helps me turn my ideas into reality. I am pleased that the brand new Innovation Centre will allow more physicians to cooperate with Cook in this way.”

“Cook Medical is one of the longest established companies in the medical devices industry,” says Barry O’Leary, Chief Executive, IDA Ireland.  “Their products are sold in 135 countries across the world. Cook is a large employer in the Limerick region – they make an huge contribution to the local economy. Cook’s decision to continue to invest in Ireland is a clear endorsement of the country’s pro-business environment and of the quality of the staff available in Limerick. Cook’s investment will ensure that Ireland remains at the forefront of research and development in new technologies and products in the medical device sector.“

Irish Medtech Industry

At present, Europe’s regulatory system enables innovative solutions to be brought to market in a timely fashion, which benefits patients. Thanks in part to this innovation-friendly environment, Ireland has developed a medtech cluster now made up of over 250 companies, of which Cook Medical is a major player.
Bill Doherty, EMEA Vice President of Cook Medical explains, “I am excited that Cook Medical in Limerick now has its own Innovation Centre dedicated to collaborating with physicians in the R&D process.  We are looking forward to welcoming doctors and surgeons from across Europe and further afield as we work towards creating much needed innovative devices for patients throughout the world.”

About Cook Medical Ireland
For the past 50 years Cook Medical has been working closely with physicians to develop technologies and devices that eliminate the need for open surgery. Operating in Ireland for 20 years we began with eight employees and now employ 800, making Cook Medical Ireland one of the leading medical device employers in the country. Our site now accounts for more than 10 per cent of Cook Medical’s output to global markets. We have always remained family-owned so that we have the freedom to focus on what we care about: patients, our employees and our communities. Find out more at www.cookmedical.com, Twitter and LinkedIn.

Las Vegas, Nev. — Four-year data from the Zilver® PTX® Randomized Controlled Trial of Paclitaxel-Eluting Stents for Femoropopliteal Disease from Cook Medical presented today at the 2013 Vascular Interventional Advances (VIVA) meeting demonstrates 75 percent primary patency in the superficial femoral artery (SFA) at four years for patients treated with Cook Medical’s paclitaxel-eluting stent. This compares to 57.9 percent patency for patients with provisional bare metal stent placement in the study.

This represents a 41 percent reduction in four-year restenosis with the paclitaxel coating in the head-to-head comparison of provisional paclitaxel-eluting stent placement versus BMS placement.

“Certainly as we face the challenge of ‘health care value,’ the Zilver PTX results allow for confidence of long-term procedural success and patient benefit,” said Gary Ansel, M.D., director for the Center for Critical Limb Care at Riverside Methodist Hospital in Columbus, Ohio.

One of the trial’s principal investigators, Dr. Ansel presented the data at VIVA today in Las Vegas, NV. As presented last month at the Cardiovascular and Interventional Radiological Society of Europe (CIRSE) 2013 meeting in Spain, the four-year data shows that 83.2 percent of patients with femoropopliteal lesions who were treated with Zilver PTX did not require revascularization after four years. In comparison, 69.4 percent of patients treated with acutely successful percutaneous transluminal angioplasty (PTA) or provisional BMS placement did not require revascularization.  

The Zilver PTX Randomized Trial of Paclitaxel-Eluting Stents for Femoropoliteal Artery Disease was a 479-patient multicenter, prospective, randomised study, designed to evaluate the stent as a treatment for peripheral arterial disease (PAD) in the superficial femoral artery (SFA). Dr. Michael Dake*, professor of cardiothoracic surgery at Stanford University Medical School, presented the four-year data, which showed freedom from target lesion revascularization (TLR), at CIRSE last month.

Dr. Dake remarked, “The 4-year freedom from TLR data documents the sustained clinical benefit of Zilver PTX. When compared to standard of care therapy, consisting of either acutely successful PTA or provisional bare stent placement after sub-optimal PTA, the paclitaxel-eluting Zilver stent provides a 45 percent reduction in the reintervention rate in this study.”

“Cook’s commitment to providing clinical evidence of the efficacy of drug-eluting devices in the peripheral vessels is unmatched. With this new data showing lasting patency at four years, we’re confident our Zilver PTX stent offers PAD patients a lasting solution,” said Rob Lyles, vice president and global leader of Cook Medical’s Peripheral Intervention clinical division.

Drs. Dake and Ansel, the global principal investigators for the Zilver PTX trial, are paid consultants to Cook Medical regarding the research and development of medical devices.   
¹Data is available upon request.

About Cook Medical
Since 1963 Cook Medical has worked closely with physicians to develop technologies that eliminate the need for open surgery.  Today we are combining medical devices, biologic materials and cellular therapies to help the world’s healthcare systems deliver better outcomes more efficiently.  We have always remained family owned so that we have the freedom to focus on what we care about: patients, our employees and our communities. Find out more at www.cookmedical.com, and for the latest news, follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn.

Bloomington, Ind.— Cook Group officials today acknowledged an Indiana General Assembly concurrent resolution sponsored by State Representative Bob Heaton extending “extreme gratitude” for the company’s 50-year history and its beneficial impact on Indiana’s economy and culture.

“On behalf of the Cook family, the more than 11,000 Cook Group employees worldwide who made this anniversary possible, and the millions of patients served by the medical devices we produce, I want to thank Rep. Heaton and his co-sponsors and colleagues in the Indiana House and Senate for this honor,” said Cook Group Chairman Steve Ferguson. “Cook is extremely proud to be a homegrown Indiana business. Our growth over the last half-century into a successful global organization has been possible due to the hard work and dedication of our employees, Indiana’s positive economic environment, and the strong support of our state’s elected officials.”

The resolution honors the 50-year journey of the Cook Group organization from a two-person operation in a spare bedroom in Bloomington in 1963 to a global business selling 16,000 different medical devices in more than 135 countries. More than 6,200 Cook employees work in Indiana in fields ranging from medical device, biotech and pharmaceutical manufacturing, real estate and resort development and management, and other commercial services.

State legislators noted that Cook, working in close cooperation with doctors and other health care providers worldwide, helped launch a revolution in medicine by pioneering many of the tools and techniques needed to perform minimally invasive procedures such as angioplasty, stenting and endovascular aortic repair, among others.

The resolution also acknowledges the work of the Cook family and Cook Group in restoring historically significant Indiana properties such as the French Lick Resort to a sustainable economic model. Other contributions singled out for recognition include capital investments in many Indiana colleges and universities, and the Cook family’s support for professional-level musical education and performance through the Star of Indiana Drum and Bugle Corps and its Tony and Emmy award-winning spin-off, BLAST!

“Every day, thousands of Hoosiers come to work at Cook Group companies with the goal of helping improve patient outcomes or providing the best customer experience possible. Each of them deeply appreciates this resolution and is humbled by what it represents.”

“Our first fifty years laid a foundation that everyone at Cook hopes will provide ongoing opportunities for growth in Indiana and around the globe for many more years,” Ferguson noted. “Every day, thousands of Hoosiers come to work at Cook Group companies with the goal of helping improve patient outcomes or providing the best customer experience possible. Each of them deeply appreciates this resolution and is humbled by what it represents.”

About Cook Medical
A global pioneer in medical breakthroughs, Cook Medical is committed to creating effective solutions that benefit millions of patients worldwide. Today, we combine medical devices, drugs, biologic grafts and cell therapies across more than 16,000 products serving more than 40 medical specialties. Founded in 1963 by a visionary who put patient needs and ethical business practices first, Cook is a family-owned company. For more information, visit www.cookmedical.com. Follow Cook Medical on Twitter and LinkedIn.

Bloomington, Ind. — Cook Medical is gratified and U.S. patients are thankful for the bipartisan vote in the U.S. Senate on Thursday that overwhelmingly passed the Hatch-Klobuchar amendment to the Senate Budget Resolution to repeal the 2.3 percent tax on medical device sales in the United States.

Indiana Senators Dan Coats and Joe Donnelly, Pennsylvania Senators Bob Casey Jr. and Pat Toomey, Illinois Senators Dick Durbin and Mark Kirk, and North Carolina Senators Richard Burr and Kay Hagan deserve praise for their leadership in co-sponsoring the amendment and joining with colleagues to cast 79 votes favoring repeal, Cook officials said.

The amendment recognizes that patient care, jobs and the vitality of one of the nation’s most innovative industries depend on tax policies that spur breakthroughs and do not punish innovators.

“This tax on gross sales threatens regional economic vitality, badly needed jobs and patients’ hopes for new, life-saving products and treatments. Thousands of lay-offs in the U.S. have already occurred because of this tax. We are pleased for the support an American industry that is the envy of the world.”

“Work still needs to be done, as the vote for repeal of the tax was non-binding,” said Cook Group chairman Steve Ferguson. “This tax on gross sales threatens regional economic vitality, badly needed jobs and patients’ hopes for new, life-saving products and treatments. Thousands of lay-offs in the U.S. have already occurred because of this tax. We are pleased for the support an American industry that is the envy of the world.”

Work for repeal started in the 2012 U.S. House with its bi-partisan vote, 270-146, to repeal the tax and continued this year with new repeal bills in the House and U.S. Senate.

“American employees and patients appreciate the support of the House and Senate and hope they will finish the job that was started with Thursday’s Senate vote,” Ferguson said. “We need to protect jobs and patients in the U.S. by moving promptly to repeal this tax.”

About Cook Medical
A global pioneer in medical breakthroughs, Cook Medical is committed to creating effective solutions that benefit millions of patients worldwide. Today, we combine medical devices, drugs, biologic grafts and cell therapies across more than 16,000 products serving more than 40 medical specialties. Founded in 1963 by a visionary who put patient needs and ethical business practices first, Cook is a family-owned company. For more information, visit www.cookmedical.com. Follow Cook Medical on Twitter and LinkedIn.