A new study by Abbott Laboratories found that their drug-coated stent, Xience V, is more effective in the long term than a competitor’s. According to the Wall Street Journal, the data showed that rates of major cardiovascular events (such as heart attacks) plateaued at 6.4% in the second and third years after Xience was implanted. To compare, rates for Boston Scientific’s Taxus stent reached 14.9% for the third year after implantation. The group using Xience also had an 88% reduction in the risk of cardiac death compared to those using Taxus. However, both stents were found to have comparable levels of safety: The rate of blood clots (a typical risk of drug-eluting stents) was low for both. Boston Scitentific sells its own version of Xience, called Promus. Combined, the two products have captured over half the market.
Drug-eluting stents are placed inside the coronary artery after surgery. They are coated with a slow-releasing medication that prevents reblocking of the artery. Other companies developing drug-eluting stents are MIV Therapeutics, Conor Medsystems, Medlogics Device Corporation, and X-Cell Medical .