The story of the successful development by Cordis Corp., a Johnson & Johnson operating company, of the first drug-eluting stent, the Cypher, and its introduction this year into the US market has been well chronicled. What is not as well known is the equally successful and ground-breaking work that Cordis did in obtaining incremental reimbursement (an increase over the existing reimbursement level for bare metal coronary stents) for the Cypher stent from Medicare prior to the device receiving FDA approval. This is an interview with the person who directed Cordis' reimbursement efforts for the Cypher stent, Brian Firth, MD, PhD, VP for medical affairs and health economics, who explains how Cordis developed and implemented its reimbursement strategy for Cypher, and the implications of this approach for future new technologies.
By Stephen Levin
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