Therapeutic inhibitor of vascular smooth muscle cells

Intravascular stent (I) comprises (a) a cytoskeletal inhibitor (II) or (b) an inhibitor of smooth muscle cell (SMC) proliferation (III) to inhibit stenosis or reduce restenosis after placement of the stent. Also claimed are: (A) treatment of traumatised mammalian blood vessels which comprises surgical excision or isolation of a graft vessel and exposing to a therapeutic agent (III) to decrease or prevent redn. in the luminal area of the vessel following its engraftment and (B) prepn. of (I) which comprises: (i) coating an intravascular stent with a coating comprising a sustained release dosage form comprising (II) or (ii) introducing (II) or (III) into the matrix of the intravascular stent. (I) pref. also contains (III) when comprising (II) or contains (II) when comprising (III). (II) is cytochalasin B or taxol, or their analogues. (II) is in a sustained release form pref. including a peptide or protein able to bind specifically to SMC, stromal cells or interstitial matrix surrounding SMC. (I) comprises a biodegradable coating or a porous or permeable non biodegradable coating comprising (II).