In this issue of AsiaIntervention, Wan Azman Wan Ahmad reports on the final five-year results of the BEACON II clinical registry, a 497-patient real-world, all-comers registry conducted at 12 Asia Pacific sites1. This single-arm study followed up patients in whom BioMatrix (Biosensors Europe SA, Morges, Switzerland) Biolimus A9-eluting stent(s) were implanted. Biolimus A9 is an analogue to sirolimus, and is released from a biodegradable polymer, polylactic acid (PLA), applied to the abluminal surface of the stent.
This trial was predominantly conducted in Asia with nine sites, with the remaining three sites located in the Pacific. Historically, most drug-eluting stent trials were US-centric and/or Eurocentric, mirroring the headquarters of the drug-eluting stent companies. Companies, for regulatory purposes or otherwise, have recognised that Asian patients may be different from Caucasian patients: therefore, information regarding their response to drug-eluting stents may provide new insights2. To date, company-sponsored stent trials in Asia have generally been registries. This is the second contemporary report to be published in AsiaIntervention, after the RESOLUTE ASIA Registry2. As the specialist interventional cardiology journal of the region, it is a privilege for both the authors and
the journal to be able to publish trials pertinent to the audience and the patients in this region.