IDEV Technologies Incorporated announced that the USFDA has approved an investigational device exemption (IDE) for a multi-center clinical trial of its SUPERA stent, a novel stent platform designed for the treatment of peripheral artery disease (PAD) in the superficial femoral artery (SFA). PAD affects more than 8 million people in the US alone and, by the age of 65, 12-20 percent of the population will develop PAD, according to the American Heart Association. The SUPERB trial (Comparison of the SUPERA PERipheral System to a Performance Goal Derived from Balloon Angioplasty Clinical Trials in the Superficial Femoral Artery), a prospective, single-arm trial of 258 subjects at up to 40 US sites, will be led by national co-principal investigators Kenneth Rosenfield, M.D., of Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA and Lawrence Garcia, M.D., of Caritas St. Elizabeth's Medical Center, Boston, MA. The objective of the trial is to demonstrate the safety and effectiveness of the SUPERA Interwoven Self-Expanding Nitinol Stent in treating subjects with obstructive SFA disease. SUPERA has demonstrated superior properties in engineering tests compared to nitinol laser cut slotted tube stents resulting in greater than four times the radial strength and 360 percent stronger crush resistance. The unprecedented increase in radial strength is due to the product's novel interwoven design, which adds strength without compromising flexibility. SUPERA also withstood more than 10,000,000 cycles of repeated bending - 120 degree flexion and compression loading fatigue testing, without a fracture.