Sinomed has completed the first commercial implantation of its HT Supreme drug-eluting stent in Ireland.

Faisal Sharif, professor of translational cardiovascular medicine and innovation at the National University of Ireland Galway, successfully performed the first procedure with HT Supreme, a healing-targeted drug-eluting stent designed to treat patients with narrowing or blockages to their coronary arteries.

“We are delighted to implant the HT Supreme stent from Sinomed at University Hospital Galway in partnership with National University of Ireland Galway,” Sharif said in a news release. “Early indications show the device deliverability to be good and the novel stent technology offers faster stent endothelialization, which will potentially reduce the need for aggressive antiplatelet treatment. Reducing the need for multiple antiplatelet treatment is an important issue especially with an aging population and multiple co-morbidities of patients who require coronary stenting.”

Tianjin, China–based Sinomed said the new device offers clinicians an additional choice of a device tailored to help patients accelerate wound-healing and restore their naturally protective vessel function after a stenting procedure.

Sharif and three other investigators are overseeing the Pioneer IV trial, a prospective, randomized trial enrolling 2,540 patients suffering from any type of coronary artery disease across 30 hospitals in Europe. Patients will undergo a non-invasive physiological vessel selection to determine which vessel requires stenting and all patients enrolled will use the HT Supreme drug-eluting stent to undergo one-month dual-antiplatelet therapy after stenting.