On Tuesday, Sanofi (SNY 5.90%) announced the commercial launch of a new surgical product for stanching the flow of blood -- and it's not a clamp, a loop, or any of the other medical devices ordinarily used for this purpose. Instead, it's goo.
More precisely, it's "LeGoo" -- an "atraumatic intraluminal occlusion" gel acquired by Sanofi when it bought Pluromed in March 2012. When injected into a blood vessel, LeGoo molds itself to the shape of the vessel to form a plug, temporarily stopping blood flow. Then, because it is a biopolymer, the gel dissolves to allow blood flow to recommence -- either on its own within about 15 minutes, or at the initiative of the surgeon, who can remove the plug by cooling the blood vessel directly through ice application or cold saline infusion.
LeGoo has been approved for use in the U.S. since October 2011, but this is its first commercial launch here. In Europe, the product has already been used in more than 3,000 surgical procedures.
Sanofi's announcement did little for its stock price Tuesday, however. Shares dropped 0.3% to end the day at $48.79.
