Drug Eluting Stents with Crystalline, Polymer-Free Coatings

Drug-eluting stents (DES) are widely used in intravascular intervention.

The current technology is based on crystallization of drug onto stent surface (with no- polymer) Coating process is resulting in high yield coatings that constantly release the drug for weeks.  There is no need for a polymer carrier, it is only the drug and a top this coating of hyaluronic acid for better sliding the stents in blood vessels and keeping the crystals onto the stent during instillation. The method of the crystallization enables uniform and reproducible coating. The coating can be a mix of amorphous and crystalline drug to obtain different release profiles. The technology also enables the stabilization of the crystals by making a thin top coating of a fast dissolving polysaccharide that keeps the crystals onto the surface during shipment and instillation.