China’s Self-Developed Heart Stent Wins Worldwide Recognition

China’s self-developed heart stent has won recognition from the international medical community, with its clinical trial results published online in the world-leading medical journal The Lancet earlier last week. Named Firehawk, the drug-eluting stent was developed by MicroPort Scientific Corporation, a Chinese healthcare company, to treat patients with coronary artery disease. The metal stent is 86 microns thick, which is roughly the diameter of a human hair. It contains drugs in micro grooves engraved by lasers on the surface, which prevents the drug from leaking during the transportation of the stent.

Clinical trials were conducted in 21 hospitals in 10 European countries from December 2015 to October 2016. Altogether 1653 patients from the UK, France, Spain, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands, Poland, Germany, Austria, and Denmark were implanted with the stent. According to William Wijns, a professor from the National University of Ireland Galway, who led the clinical study, this is the first time that China’s medical device went through randomised clinical trials in Europe at such a scale.

Results showed that the safety and clinical efficacy of this stent could rival the Xience stent, one of the world’s leading drug-eluting stents.

In addition, its unique structure design could save drug dosages, which help prevent side effects such as thrombus after implantation.