Ennis & Ennis is dedicated to helping victims of defective and recalled traditional stents as well as the newer drug eluting stents throughout the country. If you or a loved one have been injured as a result of stent malfunction you may be entitled to compensation. For more information about your legal rights or to find out the latest recall information or for a free legal consultation contact our stent injury attorneys today.

- TheHeart.org

10/16/2007 - Sales of the Cypher sirolimus-eluting stent have sunk even lower this fall, down 15% from levels reported by the company for the second quarter of 2007. As previously reported by heartwire, Johnson & Johnson (J&J) announced in July that sales of its signature drug-eluting stent (DES) had dropped 41% from the same time in 2006. Now, in announcing its third-quarter sales, J&J acknowledged that sales have slipped even further, by 15% worldwide and by 12% in the US this quarter, compared with last quarter. Compared with one year ago, Cypher sales are down 44% in the US and 40% worldwide.

Boston Scientific, whose Taxus paclitaxel-eluting stent is the only other DES on the US market, is scheduled to release its third-quarter earnings on Friday morning. Sales numbers for the Taxus are also expected to be down.

Outside the US, this decline is due primarily to increased competition from new products not yet available in the US. Ongoing concerns over the potentially increased risk of stent thrombosis with DES, an increase in the use of bare-metal stents, and an overall reduction in the number of interventional procedures taking place are also factors affecting DES sales both within the US and abroad, company spokespeople explained during an industry conference call today.

Some of that increased competition may soon hit US soil: following the unanimous recommendation for approval from an FDA advisory panel, Medtronic hopes its Endeavor zotarolimus-eluting stent will be on the market before the end of the year. Meanwhile, Meanwhile, Abbott has said that its Xience everolimus-eluting stent will likely go before the same advisory panel at the end of November, although this date has not been finalized. Chatter among industry analysts hints that Abbott's product may not get the green light as readily as Medtronic's device because the company does not have enough long-term follow-up from its randomized clinical trials.

Currently, J&J claims that market share held by its DES has remained stable, at approximately 46% of the US market.

If you or a loved one have been injured during surgical placement of a stent or have been injured as a result of an implanted drug eluting stent (drug coated stent) such as the Boston Scientific Taxus stent or the Johnson & Johnson Cypher stent you may be entitled to compensation. To learn more about the stent recalls, for information regarding your legal rights, or the possiblilty of a class action lawsuit contact our stent lawyers for a free, confidential, case evaluation today. Fill out our online case evaluation form or call us toll free at 1-800-856-6405.