Frost & Sullivan Award Highlights Blue Medical’s Excellence in Product Differentiation

LONDON--(Marketwire - July 20, 2011) - "The company is recognised for its contributions to enabling advances in localised drug delivery in coronary care," notes Sreevidhya Praveenkumar, Senior Research Analyst - Medical Devices at Frost & Sullivan. "Blue Medical is at the cutting-edge of a new era in medical device care that is witnessing a merging of device and pharmaceutical therapy; it's revolutionary PIONEER CoCr stent on drug eluting balloon (DEB) is a novel stent-drug combination."

The PIONEER trial, Blue Medical's clinical programme aimed at improving the quality of cardiovascular treatment, enables for the first time the delivery of a coronary stent mounted on a DEB. On placement of the stent, a predetermined load of Paclitaxel is delivered to the vessel wall to support the vessel in adapting to the stent and reducing adverse effects in the first days after implantation.

"The PIONEER CoCr Stent on DEB system pushes stent technology to the next level in cardiovascular disease management by enhancing the prognosis of the treatment and reducing disease complications and medications," states Ms Praveenkumar. This solution is in line with Blue Medical's constant efforts to meet market needs and focus on product customisation.

"Each product and technology developed by Blue Medical is designed from an end-user perspective," explains Praveenkumar. "The company's business concept of 'creative thinking' promotes cross-divisional communication to better respond to customers and incorporate their needs into creating cutting-edge technology."

The company's novel products span the range from stents, PTCA catheters and drug eluting balloons. Despite being a market with over 70 per cent saturation in terms of competitive landscape, Blue Medical has created a niche for itself in the minimally invasive cardiovascular medical device market, due to its commitment to developing innovative products.

"Blue Medical has forged a strong brand presence -- its high product quality has ensured a large, loyal client pool across Europe," concludes Praveenkumar. "The major driving force behind the success of the company has been its dedicated R&D, which has resulted in unique products that have made a real, qualitative difference to patients suffering from coronary disease."

The Product Differentiation Excellence Award is awarded to the company that has excelled in the following criteria: unique features/functionality, quality/complexity, matched to target markets needs and brand perception of the uniqueness of the product.

Frost & Sullivan Best Practices Awards recognise companies in a variety of regional and global markets for demonstrating outstanding achievement and superior performance in areas such as leadership, technological innovation, customer service, and strategic product development. Industry analysts compare market participants and measure performance through in-depth interviews, analysis, and extensive secondary research in order to identify best practices in the industry.

About Blue Medical

Blue Medical, located in the Dutch Brainport area, is a global medical devices company and innovator in the treatment of cardiovascular diseases. The company develops, manufactures and markets innovative medical products for cardiovascular diseases. These state-of-the-art medical devices and services offer a meaningful improvement in patient care to the health care community. The company's stents, PTCA catheters and DEB balloons are designed specially for the affordability of the cardiovascular disease population and have more than a 90 per cent acceptance in the global market. For more information please visit www.bluemedical.com.

About Frost & Sullivan

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