Sanofi US announced on 29 January 2013 the commercial launch of LeGoo, a biopolymer gel that allows surgeons to temporarily stop blood flow during surgery without the use of clamps, elastic loops or other conventional occlusion devices, which may increase risk of trauma to blood vessels. The atraumatic occlusion technique potentially provides clear visualisation with less clutter while maintaining vessel integrity. The announcement was made in conjunction with this year’s annual Society of Thoracic Surgeons (STS) meeting.
As the first atraumatic intraluminal occlusion gel, LeGoo is injected into a blood vessel and forms a plug that molds to the shape of the vessel, stopping blood flow temporarily. The plug custom-adapts to the contour of each individual blood vessel, delivering a truly sophisticated approach to surgical procedures. Upon completion of the anastomosis, LeGoo is dissolved spontaneously in about 15 minutes or by cooling the vessel directly through ice application or cold saline infusion, which restores blood flow.
“LeGoo represents an elegantly simple and atraumatic solution to temporary vessel occlusion,” David H Deaton, chief, Vascular and Endovascular Surgery, MedStar Georgetown University Hospital. “The fluid nature of LeGoo adapts to any arterial anatomy irrespective of shape or calcific disease, delivering a truly sophisticated and flexible approach to vascular anastomoses and providing a clear surgical field. LeGoo is an innovative advance in cardiovascular surgery.”
LeGoo was approved in the United States in October 2011 for temporary atraumatic occlusion of blood vessels up to 4mm in diameter below the neck. The need for temporary atraumatic vascular occlusion and a bloodless field exists in numerous surgical applications, though the current focus for LeGoo is in cardiac and peripheral vascular surgery. It is CE-marked and has been used in more than 3,000 procedures in Europe. In a randomised multicentre study of 110 patients undergoing off-pump coronary artery bypass graft surgery, LeGoo provided satisfactory haemostasis in a statistically significant higher percentage of vessel grafts.
“LeGoo has the potential to change the paradigm of vascular and cardiovascular surgical procedures through a completely new approach to a long-accepted standard of care,” said Anne Whitaker, president, North America Pharmaceuticals. “The commercial launch of LeGoo is one of several innovations Sanofi is launching in 2013 and proof of our commitment to finding new health care solutions by putting patients first while also diversifying our Biosurgery portfolio.”
Sanofi acquired Pluromed, the company that invented LeGoo, in March 2012.
