Inspire's Stimulation Therapy for Apnea Reduction trial reaches milestones

Inspire Medical Systems, the leading developer of neurostimulation therapies for the treatment of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), announced today The STAR trial (Stimulation Therapy for Apnea Reduction), evaluating both the safety and effectiveness of Inspire™ Upper Airway Stimulation (UAS) therapy, is currently underway at 9 leading medical centers across the United States and at 4 sites in Europe. In addition, several OSA patients have already been implanted with Inspire therapy in The STAR trial.

Sleep Medicine Associates of Texas, under the leadership of Dr. Andrew Jamieson, completed their first implant of Inspire therapy in The STAR trial this spring. "Untreated OSA can become a life-altering condition, causing life-threatening burdens such as cardiovascular disease, high blood pressure and stroke. Inspire therapy is designed to work with the patient's physiology to reduce the burden of OSA. The implant procedure for Inspire therapy is very straightforward and requires just three small incisions. We are looking forward to conducting additional implants to help contribute to this important clinical study."

The company also recently presented the latest data from two Inspire feasibility studies conducted in 2009 and 2010, at the American Thoracic Society (ATS) 2011 meeting in May. The data will also be featured at this week's National Sleep Meeting taking place June 11-15, 2011, in Minneapolis (Booth #935).

"Data from these feasibility studies suggests that Inspire therapy can significantly reduce the burden of OSA in well selected patients," commented Tim Herbert, CEO of Inspire Medical Systems. "Inspire's STAR trial pivotal study protocol was developed based on the information generated from these feasibility studies."

Source: Inspire Medical Systems