Boston Scientific Corporation has announced that it has received CE Mark for its PROMUS® Element(TM) Everolimus-Eluting Coronary Stent System, the Company’s third-generation drug-eluting stent (DES) technology. The PROMUS Element system incorporates a unique platinum chromium alloy with an innovative stent design and an advanced catheter delivery system. The Company will begin marketing the PROMUS Element system immediately in the European Union and other CE Mark countries.

The Johnson & Johnson subsidiary, Cordis, wins a nod from the FDA for its 2.25mm Cypher drug-eluting stent for treating blockages in small blood vessels. The company said data from the RESEARCH and T-SEARCH studies indicated that patients treated with the small Cypher model had a 65% lower incidence of death or heart attack than patients treated with the 2.25mm Boston Scientific device.

Boston Scientific has received the FDA approval to market its Taxus Liberte long paclitaxel-eluting coronary stent system, a next-generation drug-eluting stent designed for long lesions. At 38mm, Taxus Liberte long stent is the longest available drug-eluting stent (DES). This provides doctors with an option that can potentially reduce the number of stents used in more complex cases, simplifying procedures and reducing costs. The company plans to launch the product in the US in August.

MIV Therapeutics, developer of advanced drug-delivery systems for cardiovascular stents and next-generation coatings, has released updates on the progress of the VESTASYNC I trial. MIV’s VESTAsync™, a polymer-free drug-eluting stent, going through an year long clinical has ensured prevention of major adverse cardiac events in patients who have not taken anti-platelet medication ( plavix). The company has accumulated nine-month intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) and Quantitative Coronary Angiography (QCA) for all the fifteen people who have been enrolled in the VESTASYNC I trial.