Originally Published MDDI August 2004

Pioneers

John Abele

John Abele is an industry pioneer not only because he cofounded Boston Scientific Corp., but also because he was an early and re-lentless advocate for less-invasive medicine and helped change the way the device industry interacts with the medical community.

Though Boston Scientific wasn't founded until 1979, Abele became an industry leader in the 1960s. During that time he was involved with several different firms, testified before the Senate about devices, and helped found the Association for the Advancement of Medical Instru-mentation (AAMI). In 1969, he joined Medi-tech and solidified its niche as a developer of catheter-based tools for cardiology. 

In 1974, he met Andreas Gruentzig, MD, and shifted Medi-tech's focus to early applications of angioplasty. He teamed up with Peter Nicholas in 1979 to buy out Medi-tech and form Boston Scientific. He helped the young company develop platforms for all sorts of minimally invasive surgical techniques and pioneered a more aggressive marketing strategy that influences the device-industry business model to this day. 

Thanks in part to his development of live demonstration courses and other revolutionary efforts, device companies have much more open communication about their technologies with medical schools, physicians, and professional societies. Indeed, he was one of the first to see the value in viewing physicians as collaborators, not just customers.

“I did have a lot of screw-ups, but I also identified physicians, technical people, and a partner who were pretty good at seeing the vision and were extraordinary at executing it,” he says. “There were a lot of people who saw the value of less-invasive medicine, despite establishment opposition. I think I defined it better, got on the ship earlier, pushed harder, and lasted longer.”

Under the guidance of Abele and Nicholas, Boston Scientific became a leader in minimally invasive surgery for a number of fields, including neurology and urology, that went beyond the company's cardiology base. Along with an aggressive acquisition strategy, the company's focus on minimally invasive products accelerated after the company went public in 1992, turning Boston Scientific into one of the giants of the device industry. 

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