Quarterly results round-up: St Jude and Quest cut jobs to rein in costs, Baxter strong again
This article was originally published in Clinica
Executive Summary
Devices were a weak spot in Abbott's second fiscal quarter results. Although sales of its Innovation-Driven Devices (comprising its vascular, ophthalmic and molecular diagnostics businesses) increased 3% to $1.2bn, this was due to a 5% favourable currency effect. On a constant currency basis, sales were down 2%. Within this product segment, vascular devices were mainly blamed for the decline, with revenues down 4%, partly due to the recall of the firm's transcatheter mitral heart valve MitraClip (www.clinica.co.uk, 11 May 2011). However, Abbott claims it has one of the industry's most robust vascular pipelines, including its Absorb bioresorbable stent, which is already available in Europe and looks likely to become the first device of its type to gain US FDA approval, which could come in 2015 (www.clinica.co.uk, 5 April 2011).