( treated withTAXUS). The number of late...)Abbott's Xience V Everolimus Eluting Coronary Stent Superior to,Taxus Stent in Spirit III U.S. Pivotal Clinical Trial,Health

"The statistically significant reduction in major adverse cardiac events that we see in patients treated with XIENCE V in our SPIRIT III U.S. trial is consistent with the reduced MACE rates reported today from our SPIRIT II European trial," said John M. Capek, Ph.D., senior vice president, Abbott Vascular. "Across both of these trials, the risk of cardiac death, heart attack or re-treatment in the diseased artery area in patients was approximately two to three times lower with XIENCE V than with TAXUS."

About XIENCE V

The XIENCE V system utilizes everolimus, which has been shown to reduce tissue proliferation in the coronary vessels following stent implantation, and is based upon the highly deliverable and proven MULTI-LINK VISION coronary stent platform.

XIENCE V was launched in Europe and Asia Pacific in 2006. XIENCE V is currently an investigational device in the United States and Japan. Results from the SPIRIT III trial are intended to support U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval of the XIENCE V Stent System and Ministry of Health and Welfare approval in Japan. Abbott expects to submit XIENCE V for U.S. FDA approval in the second quarter of 2007.

Abbott supplies a private-label version of XIENCE V, called the PROMUS(TM) Everolimus-Eluting Coronary Stent System, to Boston Scientific as part of a distribution agreement established between the two companies last year.

About the SPIRIT Family of Trials

SPIRIT FIRST was a first-in-man study comparing the XIENCE V Everolimus Eluting Coronary Stent System with the MULTI-LINK VISION bare metallic stent system. SPIRIT FIRST demonstrated positive results with one MACE event at one year and no additional MACE events out to two ye
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