RITA Medical launches LC Bead embolization product to treat liver tumors

By E. Janene Geiss

Philadelphia, July 11 - RITA Medical Systems, Inc. said Tuesday it has begun sales of the LC Bead in the United States.

The new product is a minimally invasive embolization treatment for hypervascular tumors that blocks the blood flow feeding a tumor, causing it to shrink in size over time, according to a company news release.

Embolization is commonly used to treat hepatocellular carcinoma, the most common form of primary liver cancer, as well as neuroendocrine tumors, officials said.

The company said it has completed its premarketing launch ahead of schedule and began shipping some of these products toward the end of the second fiscal quarter.

The use of the LC Bead for the embolization of hepatocellular carcinoma is reimbursed by Medicare and Medicaid.

Reimbursement includes about $1,500 per procedure for physicians and a Medicare national average of $6,400 in facility fees for each in-patient embolization procedure, officials said.

The LC Bead is cleared for the embolization of hypervascular tumors and arteriovenous malformations in the United States by the Food and Drug Administration.

The product is distributed by RITA from its U.S. operations center in Manchester, Ga.

RITA said it has an exclusive three-year supply and distribution agreement with the manufacturer of the LC Bead, U.K.-based Biocompatibles International plc, to market the product in the United States and Canada.

RITA is a Fremont, Calif., medical device company focused solely on cancer therapies.

© 2015 Prospect News.
All content on this website is protected by copyright law in the U.S. and elsewhere. For the use of the person downloading only.
Redistribution and copying are prohibited by law without written permission in advance from Prospect News.
Redistribution or copying includes e-mailing, printing multiple copies or any other form of reproduction.