CARDIOVASCULAR TECHNOLOGY CONFERENCE WRAPS UP; STUDIES ON STENT CLOTTING RISK REMAIN INCONCLUSIVE, ANALYSTS SAY

While devicemakers at last week's Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics (TCT) conference presented clinical trial results in an effort to downplay the risk of clotting from the use of drug-eluting stents, analysts said the results of the trials are inconclusive.

That uncertainty is causing a downward turn in the market for the devices. "Third-quarter financial results by [Johnson & Johnson] and Boston Scientific reveal a slowdown in worldwide [drug-eluting stent] utilization," RBC Capital Markets analyst Phil Nalbone said in an Oct. 23 research note.

The safety issue debated at the TCT conference is part of the fallout from results presented earlier this year at the World Congress of Cardiology, where researchers suggested patients treated with drug-eluting stents are more likely to suffer life-threatening clots, or thrombosis, than those treated with bare-metal stents. Recent medical journal articles have voiced conflicting opinions regarding that risk.

The weak market may be attributed to an increase in the number of doctors who are turning away from drug-eluting stents in favor of bare-metal devices or longer-term anti-platelet therapy, Merrill Lynch Research analyst Katherine Owen said in an Oct. 24 research note.