Abbott announces results of bioabsorbable drug-eluting stent

Abbott has announced the results of a nine-month clinical trial assessing the safety efficacy of its fully-bioabsorbable drug-eluting coronary stent as a treatment for coronary artery disease.

Results of the trial presented at the EuroPCR meeting this week in Barcelona showed an absence of stent thrombosis with a four per cent rate of major adverse cardiac events.

The everolimus eluting bioabsorbable stent is manufactured using biocompatible polylactic acid and is designed to restore blood flow by maintaining a clear pathway in clogged blood vessels.

Bioabsorbable stents provide support until such vessels heal, with the stent gradually metabolised by the patient’s body.

John M Capek, senior-vice president of the vascular division at Abbott, said: “Not only is the Absorb trial beginning to show that bioabsorbable technology, when applied to coronary stents, can work – it can also provide a foundation for future interventional medical innovation.”

He added that the scientific expertise necessary for the manufacturing of a fully functioning bioabsorbable drug eluting stent did not exist a half-decade ago, while positive results from the Absorb trial bring the availability of such treatments closer to patients.

In March 2007, Abbott announced the results of clinical trials confirming the safety and efficacy of carotid artery stenting in carotid artery disease patients unfit for surgery due to their high risk of suffering a stroke.