Boston Scientific in Stent Deal

Boston Scientific (BSX Quote - Cramer on BSX - Stock Picks) made a move to strengthen its fast-growing drug-coated stent business.

The Massachusetts device maker said it had made a made an equity investment in REVA Medical and also secured an exclusive option to purchase the privately held company located in San Diego. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

REVA is developing a balloon-expandable, bioresorbable drug-eluting stent that combines distinctive geometry and resorbable polymer properties, according to a news release from Boston Scientific. The stent is designed to perform comparably to metallic drug-eluting stents and then be resorbed by the body once the artery has healed.

Boston Scientific and Johnson & Johnson (JNJ Quote - Cramer on JNJ - Stock Picks) are the only two companies to win U.S. regulatory approval for their drug-coated stents. In reporting better-than-expected third-quarter earnings in October, Boston Scientific said it had recovered from a summer recall of some of its Taxus drug-coated stents.

Medtronic (MDT Quote - Cramer on MDT - Stock Picks), Guidant (GDT Quote - Cramer on GDT - Stock Picks) and Abbott Laboratories (ABT Quote - Cramer on ABT - Stock Picks) are all trying to develop rival products and cash in on the lucrative market.

"Our alliance with REVA demonstrates Boston Scientific's commitment to expanding our technology pipeline and capitalizing on pioneering research in the field of interventional medical technologies," Boston Scientific said in a statement. "We believe REVA has a better chance of solving the challenge of combining drug elution with a bioresorbable polymer stent platform than any other program we've seen."

Boston shares were down 35 cents, or 1%, to $34.25.