Guidant launches RX Herculink Elite Stents

Indianapolis, IN-based Guidant launched the RX Herculink Elite Billary Stent System in the US following the FDA giving it a 510k clearance. The company also received Conformite Europeene (CE) Mark approval and has begun marketing the stent system in the European Union. According to Guidant, the RX Herculink Elite Billary Stent System is the industry’s first .014 rapid-exchange biliary stent system using cobalt chromium, a material that is stronger and more radiopaque than stainless steel. Guidant introduced the the RX Herculink Biliary Stent System in 1999 and the enhanced RX Herculink Plus Biliary Stent System in 2001. In the US, the RX Herculink Plus Biliary Stent System and RX Herculink Elite Billary Stent System are indicated for the treatment of malignant biliary obstructions, blockages found in the ducts that carry fluids from the liver to the gallbladder or from the gallbladder to the small intestine. The condition affects more than 30,000 people in the United States each year, Guidant said.