番茄社区

The current iteration of Absorb bioresorbable vascular scaffolds (BVS) will no longer be sold after next week, manufacturer Abbott announced.

"Physicians can implant Absorb with their available inventory. Abbott will discontinue as of Sept. 14, 2017 or while supplies last, whichever comes first," an Abbott spokesperson told 番茄社区 in an email.

Absorb BVS was just over a year ago despite questions about elevated safety event rates with the device. Since then, it had continued to suffer from reports of scaffold thrombosis. And last April, European regulators restricted the device to use only in clinical registry settings at select institutions.

An Abbott spokesperson said the decision to pull the device was made for business reasons: "Only a very small percentage of patients receive Absorb -- it makes up less than 1% of Abbott's overall stent sales. We took this decision for commercial reasons, not safety."

In the meantime, the company will follow implanted patients in existing Absorb clinical trials to assess long-term outcomes, as well as work on a next-generation bioresorbable device.

An Abbott statement said the company's "metallic Xience drug-eluting stent will continue to be the cornerstone of our portfolio, and we will focus efforts on a next-generation metallic drug-eluting product, Xience Sierra, that offers improved deliverability and expanded sizes; and on imaging and physiology assessment tools that help doctors perform complex interventional procedures."

"The second-generation device we're working on has a thinner profile and is easier to deliver," the company said. "Absorb is a first-generation device that took longer to implant to get the best results."

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