Major changes for US drug-eluting stent market

Millennium Research Group's Interventional Cardiology Marketrack results indicate that Medtronic's drug eluting stent, Endeavor, captured significant US market share and was the primary driver of increased DES penetration in the first quarter of 2008.

MRG expects, however, that with three more DES brands - Abbott Vascular's Xience V, Boston Scientific's Promus and next-generation Taxus Liberte - potentially entering the USA by the end of this year, market shares will shift again and average selling prices will decline.

"There's no doubt ASPs will decline faster than we've seen in the past," says Bina Mistry, Marketrack analyst at Millennium Research. "Because Promus and Xience V are identical devices, these brands will primarily compete on price," she noted.