St. Jude Medical's Unify and Fortify
This article was originally published in The Gray Sheet
Executive Summary
Firm's Unify cardiac resynchronization therapy defibrillator and Fortify implantable cardioverter defibrillator gain FDA approval, announced May 12. The devices feature 45 Joules of stored energy and can deliver 40 Joules - "the highest energy of any ICD available today," the company claims. The implants also have "the smallest device footprint in the industry and rapid charge times, without any compromise in device longevity," the firm states. Their debut positions St. Jude to gain market share "over the balance of 2010 and well into 2011," states J.P. Morgan analyst Michael Weinstein. Separately, St. Jude announced the European launch of its Promote Quadra CRT-D on May 11. The latter device incorporates the first quadripolar pacing system available, and the four pacing electrodes on the left ventricular lead enable up to 10 pacing configurations, according to the company