A medical device comprising a supporting structure capable of containing
or supporting a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier or excipient, which
carrier or excipient may contain one or more therapeutic agents or
substances, with the carrier preferably including a coating on the
surface thereof, and the coating containing the therapeutic substances,
such as, for example, drugs. Supporting structures for the medical
devices that are suitable for use in this invention include, but are not
limited to, coronary stents, peripheral stents, catheters, arterio-venous
grafts, by-pass grafts, and drug delivery balloons used in the
vasculature. Drugs that are suitable for use in this invention include,
but are not limited to, ##STR00001## This drug can be used in
combination with another drug including those selected from
anti-proliferative agents, anti-platelet agents, anti-inflammatory
agents, anti-thrombotic agents, cytotoxic drugs, agents that inhibit
cytokine or chemokine binding, cell de-differentiation inhibitors,
anti-lipaedemic agents, matrix metalloproteinase inhibitors, cytostatic
drugs, or combinations of these drugs.