Abiomed Inc. (NSDQ:ABMD) boasted a sales bump of 11 percent as revenues from its Impella heart pumps reached record numbers during the first quarter of the company’s fiscal 2011.
The Danvers, Mass.-based cardiac assist device maker, reported net losses of $6.0 million, or 16 cents per share, on sales of $22 million during the three months ended June 30. That compares with net losses of $7.8 million, or 21 cents per share, on sales of $19.9 million during the same period last year.
According to the company, doctors treated about 595 commercial patients with an Impella 2.5, 5.0 or LD in the United States, a 74 percent increase over Q1 2010.
Non-Impella revenue dropped from $7.9 million to $5.4 million or 32 percent for Q1, a decline "attributed partially to the company’s restructuring of its surgery business and the exiting of distributors in Europe," the company said. An improvement in operational losses offset the drop in non-Impella sales. Q1 losses decreased to $6.1 million from 7.5 million in a year over year comparison.
In July, Abiomed CEO Michael Minogue told MassDevice that the Impella has "a long ramp with a very big opportunity."
"The run rate for Impella as a heart pump is equal to all of the other implantable VADs [ventricular assist devices] in the entire United States that have been out now for 10 years," he said, "so it’s really relative to how big you think the market is."
Abiomed’s share price closed at $10.26, down 24 cents or 2.3 percent for the day.
