Taxus Express2 Atom Stent System and Taxus Express2 Stent System received approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The manufacturer Boston Scientific Corp. has also announced FDA approval of its Taxus Express2 Paclitaxel-Eluting Coronary Stent System for the treatment of in-stent restenosis in bare-metal stents.

Stents can be inserted in a heart vessel to keep the vessel propped open and allow blood to flow freely.

A large study also came out today with brand new evidence about the safety of drug coated stents. They apparently decrease the risk of death for people who have heart attacks by 16 percent than bare-metal stents. Dr. Laura Mauri, an assistant professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and an interventional cardiologist at Brigham and Women's Hospital is the leader of the study.

The study was funded by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health and investigated 7,217 heart attack victims who had been given stents. Among those with drug-coated versions, 10.7 percent died within two years, compared with 12.8 percent who had bare-metal devices. Moreover, patients with drug-coated stents also suffered fewer repeat heart attacks and were a third less likely to need a second operation to reopen a clogged artery, according to the research.

However the study has its inconveniences, such as its costing $34,843, including follow-up care as long as actual external potential health risks. Patients who receive stents also need to take medications that prevent clotting.

Taxus stents compete with Johnson & Johnson's Cypher stent, Abbott Laboratories Inc.'s Xience V and Medtronic Inc.'s Endeavor drug-coated stents.