Medtronic shares take hit on bad stent news
October 17th, 2008 joshua
Medtronic’s new drug-coated artery stent does not compare to that made by Johnson & Johnson, and based on a report, shares of the company dropped in trading this week.
The Medtronic stent has been linked to heart attacks in its patients, an adverse reaction not linked to a similar stent manufactured by J&J.
In a study of more than 2,000 patients, according to The New York Times, the Medtronic Endeavor stent led to more heart attacks and corrective surgeries in its patients than did the Cypher stent, manufactured by J&J.
Neither stent showed a higher frequency of death in its patients, according to a study entitled Sort Out III. It should be noted that Johnson & Johnson sponsored this study and presented it at the Cardiovascular Therapeutics meeting in Washington, D.C., recently.
The news on drug-coated stents struggles to stay positive. With any announcement of an advancement comes the reminders of the dangers of these fairly new medical devices, which have risen in popularity with surgeons since their release.
Some studies show that bare-metal stents act just as effectively, if not better or safer, than the drug-eluting stents.
Aside from heart attacks and the need for corrective surgeries, drug-coated stents have also been linked to blood clots at the site of implantation, despite its successful efforts to unclog an artery.
A Medtronic spokesperson told The Times that the J&J report is in direct contrast to all other studies of its Endeavor stent.
The risk of blood clots on any type of drug-coated stent, including the Cypher stent, is at least four times more likely than if a patient opts for a bare metal stent to prop open a clogged artery.
For Johnson & Johnson to claim its stent is more effective is absurd. In 2003, when the Cypher stent was introduced to the U.S. market, the wire mesh device was linked to nearly 300 cases of severe blood clots in patients who had the device installed not more than six months prior.
