Abiomed posts strong Q4, fiscal 2009 sales

May 12, 2009 by MassDevice staff

Danvers cardiac assist company narrows its fourth-quarter and full-year losses and celebrates a string of regulatory victories.

Strong sales of a catheter-based cardiac assist device helped Abiomed Inc. narrow its losses by nearly 25 percent for fiscal 2009.

Sales rose 12 percent to $19.6 million during the fourth quarter of 2009, compared with $17.5 million for the same period last year, according to a filing with the federal Securities and Exchange Commission. Net losses narrowed to $8.5 million on the quarter, compared with $15 million for the same period during fiscal 2008.

Full-year sales were $72.5 million, a 24 percent jump compared to $58.3 million during fiscal 2008. Net losses narrowed to $31.6 million, compared to $41 million for the prior year.

Abiomed said the boost was driven mainly by a 124 percent jump in fourth-quarter sales of its Impella 2.5 catheter-based cardiac assist device, which removes congestion from the left ventricle.

The device accounted for nearly half of the company's fourth-quarter worldwide sales; Abiomed said 521 patients in the U.S. were treated with the Impella last year and that the product is in use in almost 230 hospitals, giving the Danvers-based firm a 14 percent total market share of the 1,700 U.S. hospitals with catheterization labs.

The company also celebrated two regulatory victories during the fourth quarter, getting nods from the FDA for sale of the Impella 5.0 and Impella LD devices in April and the AB portable driver in late March.

CEO Michael Mingoue said the company will focus on increasing sales of the Impella device to hospitals during the 2010 fiscal year.