Medtronic to cover HeartWare ’ s cash burn by cutting back on other heart failure R & D

Medtronic (NYSE:MDT), which earlier this week closed on the $1.1 billion buyout of implantable cardiac pump maker HeartWare, plans to cover HeartWare’s cash burn by cutting other heart failure R&D programs, the company executives said yesterday. HeartWare’s implantable left ventricular assist devices are designed for end-stage heart failure patients, either as a destination therapy until death or as a bridge to heart transplantation. “[W]e had a number of investments internally going on in R&D programs directed specifically at heart failure, including diagnostic programs and services, as well as enhancements to our [cardiac resynchronization therapy] product lines, and we basically are reallocating resources and people to support the activities within HeartWare and backing off on some of those because we actually think HeartWare return on investment will be even better,” cardiac & vascular president Mike Coyle said during a conference call discussing Medtronic’s fiscal 1st-quarter results. Medtronic is confident that HeartWare’s flagship HVAD device can gain market share but is still evaluating the next-generation MVAD device, Coyle said. “On HeartWare, obviously we’re very bullish on the HVAD system,” Coyle said. “I think you’ve seen, especially in their most recent quarterly earnings results, that in Europe there is … a nice bounce-back in terms of overall share, which obviously is consiste...
Source: Mass Device - Category: Medical Equipment Authors: Tags: Cardiovascular MassDevice Earnings Roundup Mergers & Acquisitions Research & Development Wall Street Beat HeartWare International Inc. Medtronic Source Type: news