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Abiomed

MassDevice Q&A: Abiomed CEO Michael Minogue

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Abiomed Inc. (NSDQ:ABMD) makes cardiac assist devices powerful enough to pump more than a gallon of blood through the heart each minute and small enough to be placed inside the heart via catheter. It’s a highly specialized, highly competitive market that’s difficult to break into.

At an investors meeting in Boston last week, the company sought to deliver the message that its devices offer a less invasive option than ventricular assist devices and don’t need to be combined with inotropic drugs as is often the case with intra-aortic balloon pumps. It’s been two years since Abiomed won 510(k) clearance from the Food & Drug Administration for its Impella 2.5 device; at the conference, CTO Dr. Thorsten Siess acknowledged that physicians have been slow to adopt the device.

UPDATE: Abiomed re-states Q4 results, vaults to nearly $1 million in profits

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Abiomed Inc. (NSDQ:ABMD) re-stated its fourth-quarter sales and earnings numbers, resulting in a nearly $1 million boost to its bottom line.

The Danvers, Mass.-based cardiac assist device maker said it failed to account for about $800,000 in reduced operating expenses from its exit from a building lease in Athlone, Ireland. That boosted profits for the fourth quarter from $193,000, or 1 cent per share, to $975,000, or 3 cents per share. That compares with a net loss of $8.5 million, or 23 cents per share, for Q4 2009.

Abiomed cashes in on World Heart stake

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Nearly two years after agreeing to accept fistfuls of stock rather than calling a $5 million loan due, Abiomed Corp. (NSDQ:ABMD) is cashing in a portion of its stake in World Heart Corp. (NSDQ:WHRT)

Over the past five weeks, Abiomed has sold slightly more than 230,000 World Heart shares, generating nearly $740,000 in gross proceeds for the Danvers, Mass.-based manufacturer of miniaturized heart pumps. Abiomed still owns more than 2.5 million shares, worth about $6 million, and remains among the largest individual shareholders of World Heart with nearly 19 percent of its stock.

Abiomed hit with Class I recall

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Abiomed Inc. (NSDQ:ABMD) was hit with a Class I recall of its AB5000 Circulatory Support System after receiving reports that the computer supplying power to the company’s disposable heart pumps may shut down without warning.

Class 1 recalls are the most serious type of recall and involve situations in which there is a reasonable probability that use of these products could cause serious injury or death.

Q3 Impella sales help Abiomed close in on the black

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Abiomed Inc. (NSDQ:ABMD) continued its ride toward profitability on the back of its Impella cardiac assist device, paring its third-quarter net loss by more than 40 percent and posting a 32 percent increase in total sales.

The Danvers, Mass.-based company reported net losses of $4.6 million, or 12 cents per share, on revenues of $22.8 million during the three months ended Dec. 31, 2009, compared with net losses of $7.7 million, or 21 cents per share, on revenues of $17.3 million during Q3 2009.

BlackRock becomes a major med-tech player after Barclay’s purchase

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The world’s largest asset management firm is now a major player in medical devices.

In the first of several pending moves, BlackRock Inc. (NYSE:BLK) assumed a five percent stake in several medical device firms including Boston Scientific Corp. (NYSE: BSX) and Abiomed Inc. (NSDQ:ABMD), according to a clutch of regulatory filings with the federal Securities and Exchange Commission Jan 29.

BlackRock, which controls more than $3.2 trillion in assets, assumed the stake in both firms following its purchase of Barclay’s Global Investors last December.

Abiomed, Opsens ink deal to integrate fiberoptics into the Impella

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Abiomed Inc. (NSDQ:ABMD) and Opsens (TSX:OPS) inked a deal to incorporate fiberoptic blood pressure measurement into Abiomed’s Impella heart pump.

Abiomed will use fiberoptic sensor technology made by Opsens to allow its tiny heart pump, designed to help the heart during cardiac procedures, to measure blood pressure within the heart. The Impella is threaded into the heart through arteries via a catheter.

The Danvers, Mass.-based company said the Opsens sensor, which is designed to provide longer-term accuracy and reliability than competing sensors, will eventually be used to help automate the Impella’s deployment.

Abiomed’s preliminary Q3 revenues jump 32 percent

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Abiomed Inc.’s (NSDQ:ABMD) Impella cardiac assist device is turning into a star for the Danvers, Mass.-based company, which said preliminary third-quarter sales jumped 32 percent.

That’s largely due to the Impella device, a tiny pump that’s threaded into a patient’s heart to help it pump blood. The device continued to shine during the three months ended Dec. 31, delivering a 116 percent U.S. sales surge (to $14.5 million) and an 81 percent increase in overseas sales (to $15.9 million), compared with the same period last year.