Boston Scientific rival reports stent test results
Abbott Laboratories said today that a clinical trial showed its Xience V stent was more effective in preventing serious heart problems than a product from rival Boston Scientific Corp., a Natick medical device maker. 
Boston Scientific, which distributes a version of the Xience stent called Promus, said the results for the two stents were statistically insignificant.
(A Boston Scientific stent is shown at right.)
Abbott Laboratories, an Illinois company, reported results from a two-year trial today. It said patients implanted with the Xience stent were 40 percent less likely to suffer a major adverse event, which includes heart attacks and death, than patients using Boston Scientific's Taxus stent.
Xience V patients were 44 percent less likely to require another treatment, Abbott said.
Stents are mesh-wire tubes that prop open arteries after they have been cleared of plaque during a medical procedure. Some stents are coated with drugs to stop the arteries from closing again. Xience is coated with a drug called everolimus, which is licensed from Novartis AG while Taxus elutes paclitaxel.
A total of 300 patients were treated in the Spirit II trial. Abbott said 6.6 percent of the Xience patients suffered an adverse event, while 11 percent of the Taxus patients experienced those problems.
Abbott shares rose $1.92, or 3.6 percent, to $54.99 in afternoon trading on the New York Stock Exchange.
Shares of Boston Scientific rose 30 cents, or 2.4 percent, to $12.91 on the New York Stock Exchange. (AP)
