The Medical Device Business Journal — Medical Device News & Articles | MassDevice
By Thomas Lee
LITTLE CANADA, Minnesota – It’s no secret that pacemakers and defibrillators are no longer a hot growth market. Most estimates peg global sales at growing low to mid single digits for the foreseeable future.
But for St. Jude Medical Inc, (NYSE:STJ) the question remains: How much is the company to blame for its lackluster U.S. numbers?
Medical device manufacturers seeking regulatory clearances to expand catheter ablation as a treatment for atrial fibrillation got a boost from a new study published in the Journal of the American Medical Assn.
The 19-center study compared the effectiveness of ablation procedures to one of five different drug therapies in treating irregular heartbeats. It found that 70 of the 106 patients, or 66 percent, receiving ablation procedures remained symptom-free a year later, versus only 10 of 61, or 16 percent, of patients treated with arrythymia drugs. All 167 patients participating in study had previously tried at least one drug to control fibrillatons.
Plans to pare costs paid off for St. Jude Medical Inc. (NYSE:STJ) during the fourth quarter and full year, as a restructuring program returned the St. Paul, Minn.-based medical device maker to the black for Q4.
St. Jude posted $1.2 billion in fourth-quarter sales, up 6.3 percent compared with $1.13 billion during the same period in 2008. Net earnings for the three months ended Jan. 2 were $189.7 million, or 57 cents per diluted share, compared with a net loss of $201.2 million, or 58 cents per diluted share, during Q3 2008.
Full-year sales for STJ topped $4.68 billion, a 7.3 percent increase over $4.36 billion during 2008. Net earnings for 2009 were $777.2 million ($2.26 per diluted share), compared with $353 million ($1.01 per diluted share) during the prior year.
By Thomas Lee
MINNEAPOLIS, Minnesota– Miromatrix Inc. has one official employee, zero money, and nothing yet to develop, never mind sell. But make no mistake: Everyone wants a piece of it.
St. Paul, Minnesota —St. Jude Medical Inc. (NYSE:STJ) won Japanese regulatory approval to begin selling a spinal-cord stimulation system for patients suffering from chronic pain.
The U.S Supreme Court dashed Boston Scientific Corp.’s (NYSE:BSX) hopes of collecting damages from St. Jude Medical (NYSE:STJ) in a long-running patent infringement battle over pacemaker technology.
The Supremes declined to hear Boston Scientific’s appeal in the 14-year-old case, meaning a lower court’s decision barring BSX from collecting the damages will stand.
