Medtronic reports rising sales for cardiovascular devices—PFA tech leads the way
Medtronic reported $9.02 billion in sales for its third quarter, up 8.7% compared to the previous year. That figure includes $3.45 billion in sales for the company’s cardiovascular portfolio, good for an increase of 13.8%.
The success of Medtronic’s cardiovascular portfolio was primarily led by its cardiac rhythm and heart failure division; which experienced year-over-year sales growth of 20.1%. Sales for the company’s coronary and peripheral vascular and structural heart and aortic divisions increased 6.3% and 8.8%, respectively, compared to the previous year.
Medtronic’s cardiac ablation devices represented perhaps the company’s biggest success story, with sales increasing 80% compared to the previous year. Pulsed field ablation (PFA) devices, including the Affera Sphere-9 and PulseSelect catheters, have played a leading role in that ongoing trend.
The company also pointed to its Symplicity Spyral renal denervation system for treating hypertension as a significant part of its cardiovascular portfolio for years to come.
“We built the foundation,” Geoff Martha, Medtronic’s chairman and CEO, said during an earnings call. “Now we’re focused on growing this new segment and transforming the hypertension treatment paradigm.”
Medtronic remains ‘bullish’ on structural heart technologies
Martha emphasized that Medtronic remains “bullish” on its potential to become a bigger player in the structural heart space, especially when it comes to transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR). He mentioned the company’s recent investment of $90 million in Minnesota-based Anteris Technologies as evidence that the company is still pushing ahead and looking for new ways to make an impact.
“The structural heart space is one of the spaces we helped pioneer,” he said. “We have a really strong position and a great reputation, but we want to expand on that. We obviously have our Evolut platform and our mitral and tricuspid replacement programs, but we still think there is an opportunity here to expand. In the case of transcatheter aortic valve replacement, balloon-expandable is the largest piece of the market, and [investing in Anteris] is an opportunity to get into that market.”
Michael has more than 19 years of experience as a professional writer and editor. He has written at length about cardiology, radiology, artificial intelligence and other key healthcare topics.