Sales jump for Medtronic's Santa Rosa operation

<p>Medtronic's Santa Rosa-based vascular business grew 8 percent in the first quarter as the medical device maker launched its Endeavor drug-coated stent in Japan, the company said Tuesday. </p><p>Sales of the coronary device in Japan added $30 million to Medtronic's top line in the quarter ended July 31. </p><p>“It was a major driver of our growth,” said Medtronic spokesman Joe McGrath. </p><p>The Santa Rosa unit generated $471 million in global revenue, compared to $436 million for the same period a year ago.</p><p>The vascular business makes coronary stents and stent grafts for treating artery disease. Stents are tiny wire mesh tubes inserted in heart patients' arteries to keep blood flowing. </p><p>Endeavor stents are coated with medication to keep arteries from re-clogging. The next-generation stent, which was developed in Santa Rosa, was launched in Europe in 2005 and cleared for the U.S. market last year. It is now available in more than 100 countries. </p><p>“We estimate that our worldwide market share for all coronary stents is now above 20 percent,” Medtronic CEO Bill Hawkins told Wall Street analysts before the stock market opened Tuesday. </p><p>The Santa Rosa unit also saw sales grow for its endovascular products, including Talent and Endurant stent grafts. Stent grafts are metal mesh tubes that reinforce weak spots in arteries, known as aneurysms. Without treatment, aneurysms can burst, causing internal bleeding and death. </p><p>Medtronic is Sonoma County's largest medical technology employer, with about 840 workers in Santa Rosa. The company has cut just over a quarter of its workforce this year as it attempts to reduce costs.</p><p>In April, the company cut 240 manufacturing jobs in Santa Rosa as it shifted production to a lower-cost facility in Ireland.</p><p>In May, it laid off 60 white-collar employees in Santa Rosa as part of a company-wide restructuring. </p><p>Minneapolis-based Medtronic reported company-wide sales of $3.9 billion in the first quarter, up 6 percent from the same period last year. But earnings fell 38 percent to $445 million, or 40 cents per share, on restructuring charges and a $442 million payment to Abbott Laboratories to settle litigation over stent patents. </p><p>Without those one-time expenses, first-quarter income rose to $883 million or 79 cents a share, up about 10 percent from the prior year. </p><p>Medtronic's results gained from having an extra week in this year's first quarter. </p><p>While the company's international business is growing, Medtronic is feeling the impact of recession in the U.S., where hospitals have cut back on spending, Hawkins said Tuesday. </p><p>Medtronic also makes heart pacemakers and defibrillators, spinal products, diabetes equipment, surgical technologies and neurostimulation systems.</p><p>The company forecast global sales growth of 5 to 8 percent for the rest of the year. </p><p>Medtronic shares fell 14 cents to $37.86 at the close of trading Tuesday.</p>