Reply: Biological differences of three paclitaxel- and sirolimus-coated balloons on coronary lesions in a rabbit model

We thank Finn et al for their insights1 on our study “Biological differences of three paclitaxel- and sirolimus-coated balloons on coronary lesions in a rabbit model” and appreciate the opportunity to address their concerns.

Finn et al recommend a porcine model as preferable for evaluating drug-coated balloons (DCBs), citing its greater anatomical and physiological similarities to humans. While we recognise the advantages of using a porcine model, our choice of a rabbit model was driven by specific experimental goals aimed at “predicting clinical outcomes from preclinical data”. Our recent preclinical study demonstrated a healthy rabbit descending aorta model to compare the drug efficacy of the Ranger paclitaxel-coated balloon (PCB [Boston Scientific]) and IN.PACT PCB (Medtronic)2. This study showed similar efficacy between these 2 PCBs, which was subsequently mirrored in clinical outcomes observed in the COMPARE randomised controlled trial (RCT), demonstrating comparable primary patency between the Ranger PCB and IN.PACT PCB3. These results suggest that our rabbit model could effectively predict clinical outcomes for DCBs, meeting our goal in performing a preclinical study.

The current rabbit model demonstrated higher drug...