Boston Scientific announced on 18 September 2009 the completion of patient enrolment in the workhorse portion of its PLATINUM clinical program. PLATINUM is a global, randomised, pivotal controlled trial designed to support FDA and Japanese Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare approval of the platinum chromium Promus Element everolimus-eluting coronary stent system.
The trial enrolled 1,532 patients with up to two de novo lesions at more than 140 sites worldwide, and completed enrolment two months ahead of schedule.
The PLATINUM workhorse trial evaluates the new Promus Element in comparison with the current Promus stent, which uses the same drug dose and polymer on an earlier cobalt chromium alloy stent design. Two parallel sub-trials will evaluate the Promus Element stent in small vessels and long lesions. In addition to the Promus Element stent, the company is developing additional variations of a bare metal and paclitaxel-eluting stent on the Element platform. The pivotal PERSEUS clinical trial compares the Taxus Element stent to the Taxus Express2 stent. The PERSEUS trial completed enrolment in October 2008, and the primary endpoint will be reported at the ACC conference in 2010.
“The brisk enrolment in the PLATINUM trial reflects the strong interest in this new platinum chromium stent platform,” said Gregg W Stone, professor of Medicine and the director of Research and Education at the Center for Interventional Vascular Therapy at the Columbia University Medical Center/New York-Presbyterian Hospital, US, and principal investigator of the trial.
The Element stent platform features a proprietary platinum chromium alloy, designed specifically for coronary stents. This alloy, coupled with a new stent architecture, is designed to allow thinner struts, increased flexibility and a lower profile, while improving radial strength, recoil and visibility. In addition, all three Element Stents incorporate the new Apex Dilatation Catheter technology, designed to enhance deliverability.
