Endeavor stent sales drive company gains

<p>Medtronic's Santa Rosa division continues to drive growth for the medical device maker, delivering a 41 percent increase in global sales of its coronary vascular products during the first quarter, the company said Tuesday.</p><p>Medtronic posted overall revenue of $3.7 billion, 19 percent above the same period last year.</p><p>"On the whole, the broad med-tech market continues to show solid growth, particularly when compared to other segments of the economy," Medtronic CEO Bill Hawkins told Wall Street analysts.</p><p>Net earnings for the quarter were $747 million, or 66 cents a share, up 11 percent from a year ago. The results beat analysts' forecasts, and shares of the Minneapolis-based company rose almost 2 percent Tuesday, closing at $54.48.</p><p>In February, Medtronic began selling its Endeavor drug-coated stent in the United States. The next-generation device, which was developed in Santa Rosa, is a tiny mesh tube that props open arteries after they've been cleared of fatty plaque. The drug coating prevents arteries from re-clogging and blocking blood flow to the heart.</p><p>The devices sell for about $2,000 each.</p><p>Endeavor generated $80 million in U.S. sales during the first quarter, capturing almost 20 percent of the domestic market, according to Medtronic.</p><p>Doctors are choosing the device to treat coronary artery disease because exhaustive studies show it's safe, Hawkins said.</p><p>"The long-term safety data that we have on Endeavor is unparalleled," he told analysts.</p><p>But Endeavor faces challenges from two new stents launched in July by Abbott Laboratories and Boston Scientific.</p><p>Future stent sales also could be hurt by a report last week in the New England Journal of Medicine that says drug therapy is just as effective for coronary patients who are not at risk of heart attack.</p><p>Endeavor could lose 1 to 2 percent of U.S. market share over the next quarter, but the technology is here to stay, Hawkins said.</p><p>"We've established a very important niche," he said. "I'm bullish about the stickiness of this product."</p><p>The global vascular business, which is headquartered in Santa Rosa, posted $436 million in first-quarter sales, compared to $316 million in the same period last year.</p><p>Medtronic is Sonoma County's largest biotech employer, with about 1,200 workers in Santa Rosa, where it develops coronary, peripheral and endovascular technology.</p><p>The vascular division has about 5,000 employees worldwide, with large manufacturing facilities in Galway, Ireland, and Tijuana, Mexico.</p><p>Medtronic also makes other kinds of medical technology, including implantable heart defibrillators, spinal therapies, diabetes treatments, surgical technologies and pain-management products.</p><p>The Associated Press contributed to this report. You can reach Staff Writer Steve Hart at 521-5205 or steve.hart@pressdemocrat.com.</p>