A US multinational company which employs 1,300 in Clonmel has announced a major breakthrough in the American healthcare market.

Abbott Vascular is one of the leading manufacturers of stents, which are used in the treatment of coronary artery disease.

The company says the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has just granted approval of Abbott's XIENCE V Coronary Stent System, which is made in Clonmel. Abbott says the system is now being launched in the US.

The Abbott Clonmel facility is one of two global manufacturing plants that have been manufacturing XIENCE V for markets outside the US since 2006.

The market for stents is worth around €4.5 billion a year, and the announcement is expected to secure the jobs in Clonmel, and possibly lead to further job growth.