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Boston Scientific -4.2% on government's Watchman coverage guidelines

Nov. 11, 2015 5:48 PM ETBoston Scientific Corporation (BSX) StockBSXBy: Jason Aycock, SA News Editor
  • Boston Scientific (NYSE:BSX) slid today, -4.2%, following proposed government guidelines that would limit coverage of the company's new Watchman heart implant.
  • The company had hit a new nine-year high of $19.06 last Thursday; shares today closed at $18.01, 5.5% off that high.
  • The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services is proposing limits to the use of percutaneous left atrial appendage closure (LAAC) therapy, with a memo that concludes applying the therapy using an implanted device is "not reasonable and necessary to diagnose or treat an illness or injury or to improve the functioning of a malformed body member," which would make it ineligible for broad reimbursement.
  • The memo is just a proposal for the moment, and it does suggest conditions under which Watchman could qualify for coverage, but it's a blow to long-term hopes. Leerink's Danielle Antalffy says the product is a key long-term growth driver (expectations to ramp to $500M market opportunity by 2019), while RBC Capital Markets' Glenn Novarro wonders if the CMS just needs better data via an outcomes registry.

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