Biosensors International Group has recently secured a conditional investigational device exemption (IDE) approval from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to begin a US-based clinical trial of its BioFreedom polymer-free drug-coated stent (DCS) system.

Featuring a micro-structured abluminal surface, the BioFreedom DCS permits the controlled release of a highly lipophilic anti-restenotic drug, Biolimus A9 (BA9), without the use of a polymer.

The BioFreedom US IDE Feasibility Trial is designed to collect additional safety and effectiveness data for the BioFreedom system and to support a future pivotal IDE study.

The company said that this is the first clinical study within the US evaluating polymer-free DCS, and also the first US clinical study of a device benefitting from the use of the Biolimus A9 (BA9) drug.

The multi-center and prospective trial will enroll about 100 patients at up to five centres.

Due to the unique features of BioFreedom, the FDA agreed with a post-implant strategy requiring only three months of dual anti-platelet therapy (DAPT) for this study.

Further, to establish the product’s safety and efficacy profile, LEADERS FREE, BioFreedom trial is applying a one-month DAPT strategy in patients at high risk of bleeding.

The objective of this trial is to confirm that BioFreedom is as safe as a bare-metal stent (BMS) in this patient group, and can deliver the anti-restenotic benefit of a drug-eluting stent (DES), with only a one-month course of DAPT.

BioFreedom demonstrated fruitful 12-month late lumen loss and sustained safety up to four years in its First in Man (FIM) study. The polymer-free DCS also demonstrated no evidence of definite and/or probable stent thrombosis.

Biosensors International Group CEO Dr Jack Wang said IDE approval for the BioFreedom US trial represents a major milestone for the company because it is its first US-based clinical study of a stent.

"The U.S. is the largest national market for medical devices. We look forward to introducing our unique and ground-breaking interventional cardiology products there," Wang added.

Earlier in January 2013, the company obtained CE Mark approval for BioFreedom and is currently available in limited and selected markets.