Based on data from the SPIRIT family of trials, the FDA has given its OK for Abbott's ($ABT) next-generation Xience Prime everolimus-eluting stent system for the treatment of coronary artery disease.
Abbott says Xience Prime features a delivery system designed for greater flexibility and more accurate stent placement.
"With Xience Prime, for the first time in the U.S., physicians have a 38 mm everolimus-eluting stent for the treatment of long lesions. The enhanced deliverability and wide range of sizes, including a small-vessel 2.25 mm-diameter stent, will improve our ability to access challenging, complex lesions, and thereby improve care for our patients," explains Marco Costa, principal investigator of the global SPIRIT PRIME trial.
The system received CE Mark in 2009. It is now available in the U.S., Europe, the Middle East and most of Asia, according to an Abbott release.
As Mass Device notes, the clearance marks the latest round in the so-called stent wars between Abbott, Boston Scientific ($BSX) and Medtronic ($MDT).
- check out the Abbott statement
- get more from Mass Device
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