Abbott stent tops rival at two years

By Bill Berkrot

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Patients who received Abbott Laboratories' (ABT.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) drug-eluting stent had significantly fewer heart attacks and other major adverse events after two years than patients receiving a top-selling Boston Scientific Corp (BSX.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) stent, according a data presented on Tuesday.

Abbott shares rose more than 3 percent and Boston Scientific shares were down 3 percent.

While Abbott's experimental Xience V stent achieved a goal of non-inferiority to Boston Scientific's Taxus stent after one year in the study, it was clearly superior at two years, the trial's lead researcher said.

"Between one and two years the safety and efficacy seemed to be spreading between the two stents, and while the differences were impressive at one year, they're even more impressive at two years," Dr. Gregg Stone, professor of medicine at Columbia University Medical Center, said in an interview.

After two years, patients who received Xience stents had 45 percent fewer major cardiac events -- defined as heart attacks, cardiac death and need for repeat procedures due to blood vessel reclogging -- than Taxus patients, according to data presented at a medical conference in Barcelona.

In the 1,002-patient study, sponsored by Abbott, 7.3 percent of Xience patients experienced a major cardiac event, compared with 12.8 percent of Taxus patients, researchers said.

Abbott expects Xience to be approved for sale in the United States during the current quarter. This continuing five-year study is likely to help it grab significant market share.

"The result reaffirmed the superiority of Xience," Wachovia analyst Larry Biegelsen said in a research note.