Abbott's dissolving heart stent wins European approval

Abbott Laboratories' Absorb stent, the world's first device used to prop open clogged heart arteries and then be absorbed back into the body, won regulatory approval in Europe.

Abbott plans to begin selling the stent, which in a small trial effectively treated heart disease and was absorbed back into the body in about two years, to select medical centers in Europe. Abbott this year will begin large-scale studies, involving 500 patients across the continent, the Libertyville Township-based company said today in a statement disclosing the European clearance.

The company's Xience stent and a version sold by Natick, Massachusetts-based Boston Scientific Corp. now dominate the $4 billion global stent market. Patients treated with those products and similar metal stents take blood-thinning medication for a year or longer to ensure they devices don't trigger a deadly blood clot. Abbott's newest device, Absorb, may enable the artery to return to its natural state, without the need for long-term treatment with blood-thinning drugs.

“Abbott's Absorb has the potential to change the way patients with coronary artery disease are treated, as it does what no other drug-eluting coronary device has been able to do before -- completely dissolve and potentially restore natural vessel function in a way not possible with permanent metallic implants,” said Patrick Serruys, professor of interventional cardiology at the Thoraxcenter of Erasmus Medical Center Hospital in Rotterdam, in a statement.

Abbott fell 17 cents to $48.20 at 10:08 a.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. The shares had 12 percent in the last 12 months before today.