Abbott launches trial for new type of stent

Abbott has announced it has started enrolment of a new clinical trial involving over 1,000 patients for its Xience V stent.

The everolimus-eluting stent is designed to limit the accumulation of tissue in coronary vessels following the insertion of a stent.

Enrolling approximately 1,125 patients, the SPIRIT IV study will compare the Xience V stent with Boston Scientfic’s Taxus Express, which elutes paclitaxel, in patients with complex coronary artery disease.

John M Capek, president of cardiac therapies at Abbott Vascular, remarked: “SPIRIT IV will allow us to increase our understanding about the potential of Xience V as a next-generation drug eluting stent for physicians caring for the patients with challenging coronary artery disease. We look forward to introducing this therapy in Europe later this year.”

Dr Al Rizvi, director of interventional cardiology research at the Heart Centre of Indiana, added: “Preliminary results from clinical studies of the Xience V stent have been promising. SPIRIT IV has been designed to enroll a broader patient group, including patients with multi-vessel coronary artery disease requiring multi-vessel stenting.”

Abbott is also developing a stent that elutes zotarolimus, a compound designed specifically for in stents.

Results for existing trials of the Xience V stent will be presented later this year.

Earlier this year, Abbott acquired the vascular and endovascular business of Guidant, which originally developed the Xience stent. The rest of Guidant’s business was acquired by Boston Scientific in a multi-billion dollar deal.

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