Over the past several years, Swiss Jomed has been one of the few small European stent companies to grow into a major cardiovascular device company. Last year's successful IPO was testimony to the company's strong sales growth. But it was two deals the company did following soon after the IPO, the acquisitions of US-based MediDyne and EndoSonics, that will test whether Jomed is ready to break out of the pack and compete on a truly global scale with medical device giants such as Guidant and Medtronic.

Implantable Devices. Navius is developing cardiovascular devices including angioplasty catheters, coronary stents and radiation emitting stents for the treatment of restenosis. The company has a new copolymer material that yields balloons with thin walls yet high abrasian resistance. Its stent has a unique lockout design to eliminate recoil.