May 20, 2008 -- This morning Medtronic, Inc. announced financial results for its fiscal year and fourth quarter, which ended April 25, 2008. The company reported a 56% increase in its fourth quarter stent revenue, driven primarily by the successful launch of its Endeavor drug-eluting stent, which was approved by the FDA on February 1.

Medtronic's Endeavor™ Drug-Eluting Stent, Expanded on a Balloon

In a conference call, President and CEO Bill Hawkins stated: "Endeavor is the first new drug eluting stent approved for use in the US market in over four years and customer reaction has been very positive.... "Endeavor’s compelling safety and efficacy profile was further validated last week when four year data from the Endeavor II pivotal trial and one year data from the 8,000 patient eFive registry were presented at the EuroPCR conference. Endeavor’s safety profile is now undeniable – even out to four years, and its efficacy has been validated once again – even in real world patients. "Physician acceptance is reflected in the market share that Endeavor gained in its first three months on the US market. We estimate Endeavor captured an average of 19% of the US market during the fourth 5/20/2008 4 quarter and exited the quarter above 20% market share."

The speed of acceptance somewhat surprised Wall Street analysts, who had predicted a 15% share, as well as Medtronic's competitors. During its own conference call last month, Boston Scientific predicted lower figures. Paul A. LaViolette, Boston's COO commented that he expected Medtronic to exit the first calendar quarter with a 12-13% share and level out to the mid-to-low teens.

The challenge for Medtronic now is to hold its market, in light of Abbott's new Xience V stent, which has fared very well in clinical trials and is on track for FDA approval later this year.

Reported by Burt Cohen, May 20, 2008

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