Abbott Yanks Xience Alpine Stents in India

In response to price controls imposed by India’s National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority, Abbott pulled its Xience Alpine drug-eluting stent from the Indian market.

The move comes in response to price caps that cut prices by as much as 75 percent for some drug-eluting stents.

Medtronic also notified the NPPA of its intent to withdraw its Endeavor Sprint coronary stent from the Indian market.

In response, the NPPA posted a notice on its website that said manufacturers wanting to withdraw products from the market must give six months notice and would need to issue a notice in at least two local newspapers.

Abbott, Medtronic and Johnson & Johnson control the lion’s share of the drug-eluting stent market in India, and analysts had predicted that multinational devicemakers might stop offering their more innovative products if more price caps were imposed. Local media reported that Abbott said it also won’t launch its next generation drug-eluting stent, the Xience Sierra, in India.

Abbott began notifying hospitals and healthcare providers in India of the planned discontinuation last year. The company said the price caps make it an “unsustainable business.”

“We don’t believe that price caps are a solution, and these will have a negative effect on the industry’s ability to bring innovations to patients in India,” Abbott said.