Medtech Insight's Results Recap covers major device trial results appearing on MedDeviceTracker. This week's edition, covering March 1 to March 7, includes results of late-breaking trials presented at the 2019 Cardiovascular Research Technologies (CRT) conference in Washington, DC, including new data supporting Biotronik’s biodegradable polymer sirolimus-eluting stent and the company’s resorbable magnesium stent, results of the LRT trial of transcatheter aortic valves in low-risk patients, plus promising clinical data supporting Ablative System’s alcohol renal-denervation system.

Hindsight 20/20 is a Q&A feature where medtech industry veterans share their long experience taking diverse businesses – be they start-ups or publicly-listed entities – from strength to strength and navigating through times of crises. In this installment, Jon H. Hoem, whose career in the cardiology sector spans more than two decades, explains how his thinking on building a robust clinical strategy has changed; why he believes you should never skimp on hiring talent; and advises on the difficult patches start-ups might hit and how to navigate around them, among other topics.

Despite industry-wide contraction last year after Medtronic's SYMPLICITY, some believe a hypertension device is just around the corner. With a market estimated in the billions or even tens of billions of dollars, both Medtronic and Boston Scientific are launching redesigned studies, and a determined handful of medtech start-ups continue to pursue a device-based solution for treating hypertension with invasive and noninvasive approaches, including renal sympathetic denervation through radiofrequency, ultrasound, or drugs; neuromodulation in the forearm; and cold therapy to specialized cells in the neck.

Despite industry-wide contraction last year after Medtronic's SYMPLICITY, many agree the trial was flawed, and some believe a hypertension device is just around the corner. A determined handful of medtech start-ups continue to pursue a device-based approach, most by reducing “fight-or-flight” outflow from the sympathetic nervous system.