Johnson and Johnson reports benefits of Cypher stent

Johnson & Johnson company Cordis has announced the results of a trial showing the benefits of the Cypher sirolimus-eluting coronary stent over bare-metal stent in a five-year clinical trial.

Presented at the annual scientific session of the American College of Cardiology, the results showed that patients administered with the Cypher stent exhibited lower rates of target vessel failure, thus attaining the primary endpoint of the study.

The original nine-month trial involved 1,058 patients, 533 of whom received the Cypher stent while the remainder were treated with a bare-metal stent, with 93.8 per cent of these patients involved in this five-year follow up.

Martin B Leon, chairman emeritus of the Cardiovascular Research Foundation, said: “Our findings reinforce the existing body of evidence supporting the long-term benefits of the Cypher stent as an effective treatment for coronary artery disease.”

He added that the stent had given patients measurable benefits since the initiation of the Sirius trial five years before.

At the same meeting, Cordis announced the results of a three-year follow up trial of the Cypher stent, with the treatment showing results comparable to coronary artery bypass grafting in patients suffering from blockages in two or more blood vessels.