Med Alliance Announces Strategic Agreement With Kaneka

January 2, 2018—Med Alliance, a Switzerland-based medical technology company, announced a strategic agreement with Kaneka Corporation, a Japan-based provider of percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA) balloons. The agreement involves technical collaboration, product licensing, manufacturing, and distribution for the Med Alliance drug-coated balloon (DCB) in Japan for the treatment of coronary arteries.

The strategic agreement gives Kaneka the distribution rights for the Med Alliance DCB in Japan. Med Alliance will receive the PTCA balloons from Kaneka, coat them with its microreservoir technology, then return them to Kaneka for commercialization.

According to the company, the Med Alliance technology includes microreservoirs made from biodegradable polymer intermixed with the antirestenotic drug sirolimus. The microreservoirs provide controlled and sustained release of sirolimus. Med Alliance’s cellular adhesive technology enables the microreservoirs to be coated onto Kaneka’s PTCA balloon.