Conor MedSystems Gets FDA OK to Expand Stent Trial

The Costar stent from Conor MedSystems Inc. (Menlo Park, CA) continues to gain traction in the medtech and financial press following encouraging early clinical trials. Those studies will expand further now that FDA has approved full enrollment in Costar II, which will include 1700 patients at 85 sites. Limited trials began in March.

In Costar II, Conor MedSystems' stent will be compared with Taxus, the market-leading drug-eluting coronary stent manufactured by Boston Scientific Corp. (Natick, MA). According to Conor, the primary endpoint of the trial will be the incidence of major adverse cardiac events—including target vessel revascularization, heart attack, and death—during an eight-month period following stent implantation.