Over $17.5 billion is spent annually in the U.S. on major cardiovascular device implant procedures, which include coronary stents, heart pacemakers, and Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillators (ICDs).
Boston Scientific (BSX) leads in coronary stents with a close to 50% market share in 2010. Its recalls of some unimplanted stents due to failure to deploy have provided an opportunity for its rival Abbott Laboratories (ABT), whose worldwide sales of stent products increased by 18.6% to $3.2 billion between 2009 and 2010.
Johnson & Johnson (JNJ), which used to be one of the three major stent manufacturers, has withdrawn from the market. However, it has been considering an expansion of its medical device portfolio through the acquisition of a maker of heart valves or pumps.
The U.S. market for pacemakers is dominated by Medtronic (MDT), which sold $1 billion worth of pacing systems in fiscal 2011. St. Jude Medical (STJ) and Boston Scientific also have a presence in this segment. For ICDs, which are implanted less frequently than the other heart devices, the market share ranking is the same as for pacemakers.
The aging of the U.S. population should keep up demand for cardiovascular implants, but the industry has been impacted by the recent downturn in healthcare utilization. Due to increasing unemployment and steeper insurance deductibles, patients continue to delay treatment. The current administration’s focus on health care cost reduction could also contribute to cutbacks in the use of heart implant procedures which are costly, both due to the price of the device and the associated hospital fees.To continue reading, click here.