Boston Scientific stent approval ‘offers physicians two types of drug’

Boston Scientific has announced that the recent recommendation to approve its Promus/Xience V everolimus-eluting coronary stent system will give doctors and patients the choice of two different drugs deliverable through its medical solution.

The identical Promus and Xience V stent systems are sold by Boston Scientific and Abbot respectively, depending on market geography, with approval from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) pending following an advisory panel recommendation.

Hank Kucheman, senior vice-president of the firm and president of its cardiovascular business, said: “Once approved in the United States, the Promus stent system – together with our proven and market-leading TAXUS stent technology – will enable Boston Scientific to offer physicians and their patients a choice of two distinct drugs, each on a highly deliverable stent platform.”

He added that the recommendation from the FDA advisory panel marks significant progress in the plans of making the company’s two-drug programme come to fruition.

In July 2007, Boston Scientific announced the start of a clinical trial investigating its third-generation paclitaxel-eluting coronary stent, the Taxus Element, with 1,500 patients at 100 medical centres across the globe to be enrolled in the Taxus Persues study.