The SPIRIT III RCT was a prospective, 2:1 randomized, active-controlled, single blinded, parallel, multi-center clinical evaluation of the XIENCE V Everolimus Eluting Coronary Stent System (XIENCE V EECSS) compared to TAXUS Paclitaxel Eluting Coronary Stent System (TAXUS PECSS) in the treatment of up to two de novo lesions. This pivotal clinical trial was designed to demonstrate the non-inferiority of the XIENCE V EECSS to the TAXUS PECSS. Patients were randomized 2:1 to XIENCE V or TAXUS and the primary endpoint was in-segment late loss at 240 days. The results showed a mean in-segment late loss of 0.14mm for XIENCE V and 0.28 mm for TAXUS (p<0.001 for non-inferiority, p=0.0037 for superiority). The secondary endpoint, which was ischemia-driven target vessel failure (TVF), was 7.6% for XIENCE V and 9.7% for TAXUS, confirming the non-inferiority of XIENCE V. Furthermore, the rate of definite and probable stent thrombosis was 1.1% and 0.6% for XIENCE V and TAXUS, respectively.