ICD market rebound?
This article was originally published in The Gray Sheet
Executive Summary
Further confirming that the recently plagued implantable cardioverter defibrillator market has at least stabilized and could return to healthy single-digit growth in 2007, St. Jude Medical reports a 15% year-over-year advance in its ICD revenue for the first quarter, to $302 million. The gain includes 10% U.S. ICD growth and 31% expansion overseas. During the firm's April 19 earnings call, it reiterated a projection that the overall market will grow 3% to 9% this year (1"The Gray Sheet" Feb. 19, 2007, p. 15). St. Jude's Q1 ICD sales growth stemmed in part from market share gains, according to the company. Competitors include Medtronic and Boston Scientific; the latter firm will report Q1 results April 23. St. Jude reported total corporate sales of $887 million for the quarter, an increase of 13% over the prior-year period. Separately, the firm announced April 18 FDA go-ahead for its Merlin.net patient care network, an internet-based central repository for data on patients' implantable cardiac devices accessible to physicians. Merlin.net collects data from in-clinic follow-up sessions and remote data transmissions from patients using the currently available Housecall Plus portable transmitter...