Biodegradable polymer biolimus-eluting stent versus durable polymer everolimus-eluting stent: a randomized, controlled, noninferiority trial.

NEXT (NOBORI Biolimus-Eluting Versus XIENCE/PROMUS Everolimus-Eluting Stent Trial) was designed for evaluating the noninferiority of a biolimus-eluting stent (BES) relative to an everolimus-eluting stent (EES) in terms of target lesion revascularization (TLR) at 1 year. Efficacy and safety data comparing biodegradable polymer BES with durable polymer cobalt-chromium EES are currently limited. The NEXT trial is a prospective, multicenter, randomized, open-label, noninferiority trial comparing BES with EES. Between May and October 2011, 3,235 patients were randomly assigned to receive either BES (n = 1,617) or EES (n = 1,618). At 1 year, the primary efficacy endpoint of TLR occurred in 67 patients (4.2%) in the BES group, and in 66 patients (4.2%) in the EES group, demonstrating noninferiority of BES relative to EES (p for noninferiority <0.0001, and p for superiority = 0.93). Cumulative incidence of definite stent thrombosis was low and similar between the 2 groups (0.25% vs. 0.06%, p = 0.18). An angiographic substudy enrolling 528 patients (BES: n = 263, and EES: n = 265) demonstrated noninferiority of BES relative to EES regarding the primary angiographic endpoint of in-segment late loss (0.03 ± 0.39 mm vs. 0.06 ± 0.45 mm, p for noninferiority <0.0001, and p for superiority = 0.52) at 266 ± 43 days after stent implantation. One-year clinical and angiographic outcome after BES implantation was noninferior to and not different from that after EES implantation in a mostly stable coronary artery disease population. One-year clinical outcome after both BES and EES use was excellent, with a low rate of TLR and extremely low rate of stent thrombosis.