Abbott (NYSE: ABT) today announced positive long-term results for the company’s innovative Absorb™ Bioresorbable Vascular Scaffold (BVS). Three-year results from 101 patients in the second stage of the ABSORB trial were presented at the 62nd Annual Scientific Session of the American College of Cardiology (ACC) in San Francisco. Absorb is commercially available in Europe as well as other international markets and is an investigational device in the United States.
Absorb is a first-of-its kind device for the treatment of coronary artery disease (CAD), which is a narrowing of one or more blood vessels that supply blood to the heart. Similar to a metallic stent, Absorb works by opening a clogged vessel and restoring blood flow to the heart. Unlike a permanent metallic stent that cages the blood vessel, Absorb dissolves over time, potentially allowing natural vessel function to return.(1) ^
Results from the ABSORB trial presented at ACC showed the rate of major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) in 101 patients was 10 percent at three years, similar to a comparative set of data with a best-in-class drug eluting stent at the same follow-up period. MACE is a combined endpoint that includes heart attack, death due to heart-related causes, or re-blockage of the blood vessel resulting in symptoms requiring the need for additional procedures at the original site of scaffold implantation. In a subset of 45 patients, state-of-the-art imaging techniques showed improvements in vasomotion (vessel movement) and a 7.2 percent increase in late lumen gain (an increase in the area within the blood vessel) from measurements taken at one and three years. These findings are unique to Absorb and are not typically observed with metallic stents that cage the vessel. There was also a decrease in plaque area inside the vessel between one and three years. Plaque is typically composed of fat, cholesterol, calcium and other deposits that accumulate in the wall of the artery in patients with CAD and can slow or stop blood flow to the heart.
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