Boston Scientific Corporation (Marlborough, MA, USA) has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Intera Oncology (Newton, MA, USA) which provides the Intera 3000 hepatic artery infusion (HAI) pump and floxuridine – a chemotherapy drug – both of which are approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Boston Scientific expects to complete the transaction in the first half of 2025, subject to closing conditions.

In the U.S., approximately 1.4 million people are living with primary colorectal cancer, and over 150,000 new cases are diagnosed each year. For about 25% of these patients, the cancer will spread to the liver. The Intera 3000 pump is designed to administer HAI therapy to treat liver tumors, particularly those caused by metastatic colorectal cancer. When patients undergo HAI therapy, the Intera 3000 pump is implanted under the skin, and a catheter is inserted into the hepatic artery, which supplies the liver with oxygenated blood. The pump continuously delivers floxuridine directly to the liver to target tumors that have metastasized, typically from the colon.

The Intera 3000 pump is the only implantable pump for HAI therapy approved in the U.S. that provides a constant flow. Its safety and effectiveness are supported by randomized controlled trial data that demonstrate the clinical benefits of HAI therapy for patients with unresectable colorectal metastases to the liver, both before and after resection. The results from these trials have shown that HAI therapy significantly improves tumor response, delays progression, and enhances overall survival compared to systemic chemotherapy. Additionally, combining HAI with systemic chemotherapy may extend survival and increase the likelihood of conversion to resection in both chemotherapy-naïve and previously treated patients. Ongoing Phase II and III studies are examining the use of HAI therapy in larger patient populations for first-line, second-line, and adjuvant treatments after surgery.

"Liver cancer is a leading cause of cancer-related death, and we are committed to providing meaningful solutions to safely and effectively treat various forms of this disease with minimal systemic side effects and improved outcomes for patients," said Peter Pattison, president, Interventional Oncology and Embolization, Boston Scientific. "Interest in HAI therapy has grown in the oncology community given improved techniques, positive clinical results and ongoing trials. We believe this acquisition will enable us to provide a more comprehensive set of solutions to physicians and their patients to treat both primary and metastatic forms of liver cancer." 

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