Rivals to benefit as J&J exits from heart stents

NEW DELHI: The decision of Johnson and Johnson (J&J ) to stop making its popular drug eluting stent has opened up new business opportunities for competitors such as Abbott Laboratories and Boston Scientific Corp in India, one of the world’s fastest growing stent markets. On Wednesday, J&J’s subsidiary Cordis Corporation said it will discontinue its clinical development of Nevo Sirolimus – an advanced drug eluting coronary stent and cease production of Cypher, its existing drug eluting stents by the year-end .

It will close manufacturing facilities in Puerto Rico and Ireland slashing up to 1,000 jobs. Doctors in India said there is no reason for patients who are using Cypher stent to worry about its safety because J&J’s move is driven by business compulsions .

“It’s completely safe and we will continue to use the stent till the stock lasts,” Dr Ashok Seth, president elect of the Cardiological Society of India and chairman of Escorts Heart Institute said. “Cypher is still the gold standard stent and development of new drug eluding stents are done against Cypher’s benchmark,” he said. In countries like India and China where it has no patent protection , low-cost stents have already eaten into J&J’s market share of Cypher which costs about Rs 1.2 lakh. Global rivals such as Abbott Laboratories Inc, Boston Scientific Corp and Medtronics have also launched similar brands.

An estimated one lakh patients get stents implanted in their hearts to get rid of blocked arteries. Unlike traditional stents, drug eleuting stents such as Cypher are coated with medicines which are gradually released after the implant . This prevents the formation of thick scars, which in turn narrows the arteries.