Andy Jones, managing director of ClearStream Technologies, believes the tide has turned for the medical device company he bought out of US group Angio Dynamics in 2000. However, if his prediction for the future is correct, he will have another group of Americans to thank for it.

The AIM-listed Wexford-based group, which designs, manufactures and sells medical devices used to treat people with heart conditions, is banking on the success of an agreement it signed in December with a US-based company for the exclusive supply of a drug-eluting stent. This is a kind of scaffolding device that is used to prop open the artery so a balloon catheter can be fitted to the heart of someone suffering from blockages.

Under the terms of the agreement, the US group will produce the drug-eluting stent for ClearStream, which will sell it under its own brand.

And the agreement cannot come quick enough for the Irish group, which employs about 110 people.

It was, in fact, drug-eluting stents - but a version made by others - that was the root of many of ClearStream's problems in the past, according to 52-year-old Jones.

A few years ago, two of its larger rivals - Johnson & Johnson and Boston Scientific - introduced their own drug-eluting stents. At the time, these were quite revolutionary because, unlike traditional stents, they were coated with a drug used to stem biological reactions to the insertion of the stent into the body.

"This very seriously impacted on our business," says Jones. "A number of our customers who made the traditional type of stents went out of business and this had a negative effect for us."

ClearStream had predicted that things would pick up last year as some of the companies using the new drug-eluting stents chose ClearStream's own catheter product to complement it, but this was not to be. Many of the new launches were delayed and any business expected on the back of it was also therefore delayed.

Still, the prediction was not entirely wrong - just the timing. Over the past six months, the company has seen an increase in demand for its products. In fact, figures released yesterday show a 29 per cent increase in turnover in the six months to the end of January - gains that Jones expects to continue.

The Enniscorthy-based company sells unbranded devices to other medical device companies as well as ClearStream branded products.

Another sign of the pick-up in sales, according to Jones, is the recent change in management. Things had remained pretty constant at the company since it was formed in July 2000 through a management buyout of US group Angio Dynamics. Jones led the buyout and, at the time, took an 8 per cent stake in the group.

"The business needed some new blood," he says, though he is quick to acknowledge that the people who left did a great job when the company was a subsidiary of a larger group. "They just weren't quite right for a stand-alone company."

The group has has also improved its distribution channels, a move Jones says is already reaping benefits.

As well as focusing on improving its distribution network, the company has also removed some excess costs, an initiative that involved some people working part time for a period. Things are now back to normal and Jones predicts the group will have to take on more people in the future to cater for the expected increase in sales.

ClearStream raised €7 million in November 2004 when it first sold shares on London's Alternative Investment Market (AIM). Last month, it announced plans to return to the market to raise a further €4.4 million. The money will be used to develop the business and to improve the sales and marketing strategies to cater for the predicted increase in sales.

Some of the funds are also earmarked for improvements to research and development and manufacturing facilities, according to Jones.

If ClearStream is going to grow as Jones predicts, it will have to work hard. Competition is intense in the medical device sector, which employs 26,000 people in Ireland.

Jones shrugs off the number of large international players based in Ireland, saying they would be competing at an international level anyway.

"There is plenty of ocean out there and the potential to grow is vast," he says, adding that now that the company has turned the corner, the challenge is to become a bigger player through acquisition or partnerships.

While he is quick to add that there are no acquisitions on the cards right now, he is obviously happy to be in a position to talk about things other than the day-to-day running of the group.

Whatever happens, the launch of ClearStream's new drug-eluting stent in the Middle East and Asia this month, and - providing it gets regulatory approval - the ensuing launch in Europe planned for the end of this calendar year, is a bright light on the company's horizon.

With a global angioplasty sector valued at $8 billion and a growth rate of 17 per cent a year, there is everything to play for.