WASHINGTON (AP) – Drug and medical device company Abbott Laboratories said it received European approval to market a first-of-a-kind stent that absorbs into the body within two years of implantation.
Stents are mesh-metal tubes used to prop open arteries after they have been cleared of potentially deadly fat deposits. A long-standing concern with the implants is the risk for blood clots caused by scar tissue growing over the metal stent. Abbott’s Absorb stent is the first in a new class of devices designed to address the problem by breaking down inside the body.
The stent is made from polylactide, a biodegradable material used in absorbable surgical sutures.
North Chicago-based Abbott said it would make the stent available at certain European hospitals this year, with a full roll-out planned for late-2012.
Abbott said it will continue studying the stent in coming years and plans to enroll 1,000 patients with various types of blockages. The company expects to submit the device for U.S. approval in 2015, according to a company spokesman.
Abbott already leads the U.S. market for stents with its Xience V drug-coated stent. The drug coatings are designed to prevent scar tissue from growing back through the mesh and reclogging the patient’s artery. The company’s stents posted global sales of $505 million in the last quarter.
Similar products are marketed by Johnson & Johnson, Medtronic Inc. and Boston Scientific.
Date: January 10, 2011
Source: Associated Press
Filed Under: Drug Discovery
