Analysts Say Abbott Has the 'Best Stent'

Abbott Laboratories has "the best stent," RBC Capital Markets analysts said after data released at the American College of Cardiology's 56th Annual Scientific Session indicated Abbott's Xience stent is superior to Boston Scientific's Taxus stent.

"From our perspective, the Xience data leave the current U.S. market leader, Boston Scientific's Taxus, in the dust," they added.

The SPIRIT III trial revealed that the Xience, an everolimus-eluting stent, was superior in its primary and secondary endpoints compared with the Taxus, a paclitaxel-eluting stent, Abbott announced.

In addition, an analysis of nine-month major adverse cardiac events (MACE) -- cardiac death, heart attack and target lesion revascularization -- revealed that the Xience is superior to the Taxus with a statistically significant 44 percent reduction in MACE compared with the Taxus, according to Abbott. There was no statistical difference in stent thrombosis levels between the Xience and the Taxus. ( http://www.fdanews.com/ddl/34_14/ )