BTG has expanded its commercial presence in Europe in recent months by building an expert sales force to promote the approved uses of its products in major European markets. This team has been selling BTG’s radioembolization product TheraSphere and will also sell DC Bead and Bead Block, the company’s complementary interventional oncology products.
DC Bead is an embolic drug-eluting bead capable of loading and releasing chemotherapeutic agents for the treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma and liver metastases from colorectal and other cancers. Bead Block is an embolic device for embolizing blood vessels of a variety of hypervascularised tumours and arteriovenous malformations and is most commonly used for the treatment of uterine fibroids and other benign tumours.
John Sylvester, chief commercial officer for Interventional Medicine, BTG, said: “We are pleased to be supplying our beads and Therasphere products directly to healthcare professionals in Europe. BTG is investing in product innovation and clinical development to better serve specialist interventional oncology physicians. We are proud to be a leader in interventional medicine, moving medicines from major surgery to minor procedures and from the systemic to the local.”
DC Bead and Bead Block, developed and manufactured by BTG, both received CE mark approval in Europe in 2003. These products were previously sold in Europe by the Terumo Corporation under a contract that expired on 31 March 2015. BTG will be selling directly to hospitals in Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Portugal, Switzerland, Spain, and the UK.
A press release from the company states that through the growth of its embolic bead products, the acquisitions of TheraSphere and EKOS Corporation, the US approval of Varithena, and the acquisition of interventional pulmonology company PneumRx earlier this year, BTG has become a leader in interventional medicine.
