Abiomed announces 50,000 U.S. patients have been treated with Impella heart pumps
Abiomed announced on Feb. 23 that the 50,000th patient in the U.S. was recently treated with the company’s Impella line of heart pumps.
Subhash Banejee, MD, a professor at the University of Texas Southwest Medical Center and the chief of cardiology at the Dallas VA medical center, treated the 50,000th patient with the Impella CP pump.
The FDA has approved the Impella 2.5 and Impella CP to treat MI patients in cardiogenic shock as well as certain advanced heart failure patients undergoing elective PCIs. The agency has also approved the Impella 5.0 for some patients with advanced heart failure who undergo elective PCIs. In addition, the Impella RP is FDA-approved for some patients with right heart failure.
During the third quarter of fiscal year 2017, Abiomed reported $109.2 million in Impella sales, a 35 percent increase compared with the same period last year.
As of Dec. 31, 2016, 1,119 sites had Impella 2.5 heart pumps, 972 sites had Impella CP heart pumps and 120 sites had Impella RP heart pumps.
Still, Impella pumps are only used in 1 percent of PCIs and less than 10 percent of patients experiencing an acute MI and having cardiogenic shock, according to Abiomed.
“Treating 50,000 patients in the United States is an incredible milestone for the company, as it reflects our unyielding commitment to addressing the significant unmet need for advanced heart failure patients who might otherwise have no treatment options,” Abiomed chairman, president and CEO Michael R. Minogue said in a news release. “By working to change the standard of care and building the field of heart recovery, it is our goal to continue to improve patient outcomes and increase access to this life-changing innovation.”
Executive Editor
Tim Casey joined TriMed Media Group in 2015 as Executive Editor. For the previous four years, he worked as an editor and writer for HMP Communications, primarily focused on covering managed care issues and reporting from medical and health care conferences. He was also a staff reporter at the Sacramento Bee for more than four years covering professional, college and high school sports. He earned his undergraduate degree in psychology from the University of Notre Dame and his MBA degree from Georgetown University.