• 3M Health Care (St. Paul, Minnesota) reported the launch of 3M Tegaderm Ag Mesh Dressing with Silver, a new wound care product with fast-acting, long-lasting antimicrobial barrier effectiveness against a range of microbes, including antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Versatile Tegaderm Ag Mesh Dressing is a gauze-like porous material, which may be used as a primary dressing with absor-bent wound fillers, or packed into tunnels or undermined areas. Tegaderm Ag Mesh dressing provides a seven-day antimicrobial barrier for a variety of wounds, especially those that have stalled or are slow to heal. It is available in five sizes from 2 x 2 inches to 16 x 16 inches.

• Agilent Technologies (Palo Alto, California) reported the introduction of an entire portfolio of chromatography-based mass spectrometry (LC/MS) systems that is expected to nearly double its LC/MS market share by 2008. The Agilent 6000 Series will include five classes of instruments, including the company's first triple quadrupole and quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometers. The 6000 Series also includes improved versions of Agilent's single-quadrupole, ion trap and time-of-flight mass spectrometers. Each of the new LC/MS instruments includes Agilent's autotune technology; compatibility with Agilent's multimode source and HPLC-Chip technology; and integrated LC and MS software for instrument control and data analysis. Each instrument comes with integrated LC and MS software for a single point of instrument control and data analysis.

• Cordis (Miami Lakes, Florida), a Johnson & Johnson company, reported that the Cypher Sirolimus-Eluting Coronary Stent may reduce restenosis and the occurrence of major adverse cardiac events in patients with complex coronary artery lesions without increasing the risk of thrombosis, according to a study published in the Jan. 17 issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. The SCANDSTENT (Stenting of Coronary Arteries in Non-Stress/Benestent Disease) study is the only randomized study examining the Cypher stent against bare-metal stents that includes complex patients, defined as patients with blockages longer than 15 mm, side-branch lesions, ostial lesions, and angulated lesions. Investigators found that at six months the Cypher stent outperformed the bare metal stent. When comparing the Cypher stent group with the bare metal stent group, researchers found improvements in the narrowest vessel size, significant reductions in narrowing of the vessel, a dramatic reduction in narrowing of the vessel on multiple occasions and significantly lower rates of target lesion revascularization.