By Angeline Mgbele, Correspondent, Abuja

Abbott began its LIFE-BTK clinical trial to assess the safety and effectiveness of its new Esprit BTK Everolimus Eluting Stent and this has excited interest from analysts.

Medical Devices Analyst at GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company, Sheryl Tang comments: “The Esprit BTK stent addresses many of the drawbacks of the current treatment devices on the market. As a stent, it is much more effective than standard balloons in keeping arteries open while promoting healing through the Everolimus drug, and the resorbable nature decreases risks and complications associated with traditional metallic stents such as stent thrombosis. Abbott’s deliberate use of the Everolimus drug will also prove to be an advantage due to the surrounding concerns over paclitaxel-coated devices.

“Prior to the outbreak of COVID-19, GlobalData estimated approximately 50,000 cases of CLI being treated with balloon angioplasty in the US. Once the market returns to normalcy following the pandemic, the peripheral market is expected to grow quickly due to the increasing prevalence of peripheral artery disease (PAD). With the breakthrough device designation from the FDA streamlining review and pre-market approval timelines, Abbott could potentially be the first manufacturer to offer an effective treatment for this patient pool, gaining a large share of the peripheral vascular interventions market and becoming the new gold standard.”