Boston Scientific Corporation announced that it has received CE Mark for its new coronary stent, the Liberté. The company plans to launch the stent immediately in Europe and other international markets. It plans to launch the product in the United States in the second half of 2004.

The Liberté stent will serve as the platform for Boston Scientific's next generation drug-eluting stent system. The company plans to launch that product in Europe and other international markets in the second half of 2004. It plans to file an Investigational Device Exemption with the US FDA for clinical trials of its next generation drug-eluting stent system in the first half of 2004.

"The Liberté represents a major advance in stent development," said Paul LaViolette, Boston Scientific senior vice president and group president, Cardiovascular. "It is a novel, sophisticated technology designed to greatly enhance deliverability and conformability, particularly in challenging lesions. The deliverability enhancements improve access, while the conformability enhancements allow the stent to better follow the natural contours of the vessel. It is truly a state of the art stent that is simultaneously our next generation bare metal stent and the platform for our next generation drug-eluting stent."

Boston Scientific is a worldwide developer, manufacturer and marketer of medical devices. The company's products are used in a broad range of interventional medical specialties.