TAKING HEART FROM NOVOSTE If you're among the half-million Americans who will undergo coronary angioplasty this year, you may be especially interested in Novoste (NOVT). Angioplasty is a common procedure in treating heart ailments. When residues build up in arteries, angioplasty is performed to reopen those vessels. But half the patients develop a complication called restenosis--a renarrowing of arteries when cells proliferate in treated areas. Novoste says its beta-radiation therapy prevents such reclogging. Known as King Betha-Cath, the system is in clinical tests in the U.S. and Europe to gain marketing approval. ''Novoste is a pure play on techniques to combat heart disease,'' says Stephen Leeb, publisher of the newsletter Personal Finance. ''Don't wait for government announcements to catch up on this company's great promise.'' Also high on Novoste is money manager John Wallace of the San Francisco investment firm Robertson Stephens. He notes that Johnson & Johnson has a product called Palmaz-Schatz Coronary Stent that reduces restenosis rates in selected patients. Over the past 18 months, this product has created a $600 million business for J&J. With the positive results from Novoste's initial tests, J&J could get ''very interested'' in Novoste and its King Beta-Cath system, says Wallace. Arch Smith of Piper Jaffray expects approval of King Beta-Cath by mid-1999. It's bound to become ''the preferred method'' for treating restenosis, he says. Shares of Novoste have been volatile since it went public in May. Now at 16 1/2, Smith expects the stock to hit 30 in 12 or 18 months BY GENE G. MARCIAL RELATED ITEMS CHART: Toward Fewer Complications Return to top of story

Updated June 15, 1997 by bwwebmaster
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