“Low commercial sales” prompt Abbott to pull the plug on selling Absorb

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Absorb

Abbott has announced that it is to stop selling its first-generation bioresorbable vascular scaffold (Absorb, Abbott Vascular) because of poor sales. The announcement follows the publication of the Absorb III two-year results, which showed Absorb to be associated with a significantly higher rate of target lesion failure than was the company’s everolimus-eluting, metallic stent Xience.

The announcement on the Absorb GT1 webpage states that, “due to low commercial sales”, Abbott will discontinue all sizes of the scaffold from 14 September in all geographies. It adds that physicians can implant Absorb with their available inventory “if they choose to do so” but notes that, in the EU, this only applies to centres currently participating in approved clinical studies.

According to the announcement, Abbott pioneered bioresorbable technology because it believed such technology offered “patients the possibility of life without permanent metallic implants”. It reports that the company will continue to follow patients in existing Absorb clinical trials “to assess long-term outcomes after the scaffold has dissolved” and will also continue to work on a next-generation device. “We’re dedicated to developing treatments that help patients with vascular and other heart diseases live their fullest lives,” the announcement concludes.


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