Boston Scientific's ($BSX) launch of new pacemaker products and a pending acquisition will be crucial toward reversing the company's declines in cardiac rhythm management (CRM) revenue, as well as pushing ahead with global expansion, CEO Hank Kucheman says.
He told the Boston Herald in an exclusive interview in advance of Boston Scientific's May 8 shareholder meeting that he expects the Ingenio pacing device (which launched in the U.S. on May 7), plus new cardio products such as the Promus Element Plus stent and the company's Progeny ICD devices to make a big marketplace impact. He placed a special emphasis, however, on the Ingenio pacer, which is among three new pacer products that gained FDA and European regulatory approvals in recent weeks.
"We haven't had a major upgrade in our bradycardia platform in over a decade so Ingenio is a complete overhaul and I am very excited about it," Kucheman is quoted in the article as saying. "More importantly, our potential customers are excited about it and I think that will make a big difference in the marketplace."
Kucheman said he also sees its pending offer for Cameron Health as crucial to succeeding in reversing CRM revenue declines and restoring the line to solid growth. The reason: Cameron's subcutaneous implantable defibrillator, which is awaiting FDA approval, would represent a serious advance in the marketplace as the first of its kind available in the U.S.
"That has the potential to take market share as well as increase the overall size of the market because of its potential to reach patients that most physicians wouldn't have wanted to treat with a traditional ICD today," Kucheman told the Boston Herald.
Boston Scientific's CRM unit generated $501 million in sales during its 2012 first quarter. That's down significantly from $559 million a year earlier. Kucheman will remain as CEO until Mike Mahoney, a veteran Johnson & Johnson ($JNJ) executive, takes over Nov. 1.
- read the Boston Herald story