Boston Scientific sees opportunity in rival’s setback

Medtronic Inc’s stumble in its U.S. medical device study to treat high blood pressure could create an opportunity for other device makers to pick up where their rival has left off, Boston Scientific Corp Chief Executive Mike Mahoney said on Tuesday. Called the silent killer, high blood pressure affects as many as one in three American adults, and medical device makers were racing to develop a procedure to treat it before the failure of Medtronic’s major clinical trial. Boston Scientific is still forging ahead with plans to develop its own blood-pressure-lowering device, called a renal denervation system, for sale in the United States, Mahoney said in an interview. Renal denervation devices create tiny scars along nerves in the kidneys, which play a pivotal role in regulating blood pressure by sending signals to the brain that can cause blood vessels to constrict.