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Health Minister approve First India-made dissolvable stent

 

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A health ministry subject expert committee (SEC) approved Gujarat-based Meril Life Science’s bioresorbable vascular scaffold (BVS) at a meeting, a senior government official told ET on condition of anonymity. The official approval of the government to market the stent is expected in a few weeks, said the official.The health ministry has approved the country’s first locally made bioresorbable cardiac scaffold, or naturally dissolving stent for clearing blockages in arteries that carry blood to the heart.

Out of more than five lakh coronary stents used in the country in 2016, only around 8,000 were BVS, mainly because of its high prices, analysts said.

Unlike drug eluting stents that are made of metal and stay in the arteries forever, Meril's 100 micron thick BVS 'MeRes100' is made of materials that degrades and is absorbed by the body over three years. Before it came under price control earlier this month, BVS was often more expensive than metallic drug eluting stents and few patients would be able to afford it.

 

Absorb, which had a monopoly in this category of stents, had maximum retail price (MRP) of Rs 1.80 lakh at hospitals before coming under price control, industry executives and distributors told.

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