Medtronic defying economic downturn

<p>While most Sonoma County businesses felt stiff economic headwinds last quarter, Medtronic's Santa Rosa vascular business grew 30 percent, a sign that medical technology is weathering the storm.</p><p>"In these challenging times, health care remains resilient, stable and viable," Medtronic CEO Bill Hawkins told Wall Street analysts Tuesday.</p><p>There's a strong market for life-saving technology, he said. "Very few of our therapies are used in elective procedures," Hawkins said.</p><p>Still, Medtronic isn't immune to the global economic turmoil. Its share price dropped to a six-year low Tuesday after the company lowered its sales forecast for the rest of the year.</p><p>Medtronic's Santa Rosa division makes stents for treating coronary artery disease, the nation's leading cause of death. With 1,200 employees, it is the second-largest tech employer in Sonoma County, behind only Agilent Technologies.</p><p>The Santa Rosa-based unit posted global sales of $410 million in the quarter ending Oct. 24, compared to $315 million for the same period in 2007.</p><p>Much of the gain came from U.S. sales of Medtronic's Endeavor drug-coated stent, a next-generation device that keeps heart patients' arteries open after angioplasty, a procedure that clears fatty plaque. Endeavor hit the U.S. market in February after it was approved by the Food and Drug Administration.</p><p>The Santa Rosa unit should continue to grow with a new system for delivering its artery-repair technology, officials said Tuesday. Medtronic is launching its stents on the rapid exchange (RX) delivery system, which is preferred by 75 percent of U.S. interventional cardiologists, the company said. The launch follows a court ruling last month that allowed Medtronic to use the technology in the United States.</p><p>Overall, Minneapolis-based Medtronic reported companywide sales of $3.57 billion for the quarter, up 14 percent from the same period last year. It also makes pacemakers, defibrillators, spinal implants, diabetes treatments and surgical technologies.</p><p>Last quarter's profit slipped 14 percent to $571 million on litigation charges, declining foreign exchange rates and lower sales of pacemakers and spinal implants.</p><p>Medtronic, which does more than a third of its business outside the United States, benefited earlier this year from the weak U.S. dollar. But it's getting squeezed as the dollar gains strength against other currencies.</p><p>On Tuesday, company officials said 2009 revenue could be down $400 million from previous forecasts, due largely to the currency impact.</p><p>Medtronic shares closed Tuesday at $31.60, down more than 13 percent from Monday's close.</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>