An FDA advisory panel on paclitaxel-eluting devices for treating peripheral artery disease yesterday found that the mortality signal indicated by a meta-analysis last year exists but that further study is needed to determine whether it’s a class effect and to pin down the cause of death.
A meta-analysis published in the Journal of the American Heart Assn. last December suggested that PAD patients treated with paclitaxel-coated balloons and stents could be at a higher risk for late death. Led by Dr. Konstantinos Katsanos, researchers looked at data from 28 trials to find a 68% relative risk increase in all-cause death with paclitaxel-coated devices after two years and a 93% relative risk increase after five years, compared to therapy with an uncoated device.
Get the full story at our sister site, Drug Delivery Business News