Angiotech Pharmaceuticals (ANP) shares up 29% Thursday

Shares of Angiotech Pharmaceuticals (TSX: T.ANP, Stock Forum) surged 29% to $2.09 Thursday, as the Vancouver-based company reported that its corporate partner, Boston Scientific Corporation (NYSE: BSX, Stock Forum) has received U.S. FDA approval to market its TAXUS Liberté Long Paclitaxel-Eluting Coronary Stent System, a drug-eluting stent designed for long lesions.
The company says Boston Scientific plans to launch the product in the U.S. next month.
Back in May, the company received FDA approval to market its TAXUS Liberté Atom Paclitaxel-Eluting Coronary Stent System.
“Today's approval of the TAXUS Liberté Long Stent, along with the approval of the TAXUS Liberté Atom(TM) Stent in May, demonstrates the strength and breadth of the paclitaxel platform," said William Hunter, president and CEO of Angiotech. "We are pleased with the progress that Boston Scientific continues to make with TAXUS stents," he added.
On Angiotech’s website, the company says that its initial lead product, the TAXUS drug-eluting coronary stent - which was co-developed and is now sold by Boston Scientific Corporation - is implanted in over four million patients worldwide.