Medical devices major -
St. Jude Medical
(
STJ
) made an online release of a new study about its Trifecta
pericardial aortic stented tissue valve in The Journal of
Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery. The device is used as a
replacement for the damaged or malfunctioning aortic heart valve,
which controls blood flow from the heart through entire body.
The Trifecta valve, which has been constructed using a
polyester and tissue-covered titanium stent, is designed to offer
improved hemodynamic performance and durability. It offers a
number of novel features that improve the implant ability,
thereby offering surgeons more flexibility in selecting the
appropriate replacement valve for each patient's heart.
The encouraging results published online re-emphasized the
easy-to-implant and safe Trifecta valve's efficiency in
hemodynamic performance. St. Jude conducted this large-scale
study as a part of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
pre-market approval study. The study was held across 31 centers
in the U.S., Europe and Canada and evaluated 1,041 patients
between 2007 and 2009. The results helped the company obtain the
European CE Mark approval in 2010, FDA clearance in 2011 as well
as a nod from the Japanese regulatory body in 2012.
Dr. Bavaria, the lead author of the article, is impressed by
the excellent performance data collected over a span of 1-2 years
and the minimal risk of valve leakage evident from the strong
clinical results. He has used the product for 5 years and is
extremely satisfied with the outstanding hemodynamic support
provided by the Trifecta.
The Trifecta valve further strengthens St. Jude's
market-leading heart valve franchise. The Trifecta product line
led to a 3% increase in sales in St. Jude's structural heart
products business in 2012. The overall sales volume of tissue
heart valves grew 20% in 2012, which is encouraging. The
company's key competitors in the heart valve market are
Edwards Lifesciences
(
EW
) and
Medtronic
(
MDT
) and Sorin CarboMedics.
St. Jude has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). While we remain on the
sidelines regarding STJ due to the prevailing softness in the
core Cardiac Rhythm Management ("CRM") business, medical products
company like
Nuvasive
(
NUVA
), with a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), warrants a look.
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