The use of Abiomed's (ABMD) Impella heart pumps reduced the rate of death, stroke, myocardial infarction, and repeat procedures in high-risk percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) patients, according to a new study.

The interim data from the healthcare company's single-arm PROTECT III study reflects patient outcomes for 1,143 patients who underwent elective non-emergent PCI with an Impella pump between March 2017 and September 2019.

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IMAGE SOURCE: GETTY IMAGES.

Previously, Abiomed's PROTECT II study data showed use of an Impella pump improved patient outcomes by 29% versus an intra-aortic balloon pump at 90 days. An analysis of the PROTECT III data revealed that patients who would have qualified for enrollment in PROTECT II had a lower rate of adverse outcomes compared to PROTECT II patients -- 15% compared to 21.9% despite those patients being generally older and sicker with more comorbidities than PROTECT II patients. 

The new data will be used alongside previous results to inform the design of Abiomed's future two-arm PROTECT IV randomized control trial (RCT), which will compare PCI with Impella against PCI without any planned hemodynamic support.

The additional data from Abiomed's study may help expand use of Impella pumps to more PCI procedures, resulting in sales growth. In it's most recently reported fiscal quarter, Abiomed reported revenue of $165 million, down 21% year over year because of delayed procedures caused by COVID-19 restrictions.