St. Jude Medical reports better than expected quarterly results

Strong heart failure device sales have helped to pump up St. Jude Medical’s profits and enabled the company to report better than expected quarterly results

The company reported net sales of $1.448bn (£997m) in the first quarter of 2016, an 8% increase compared to net sales of $1.345bn (£926m) in the first quarter of 2015.

St. Jude’s heart failure product sales, which include cardiac resynchronisation therapy products, ventricular assist devices and the CardioMEMS HF System products, totalled $374m (£257m) for the first quarter.

This demonstrated a 49% increase compared to the prior year quarter and a 2% increase on sales compared to the same quarter in 2015.

The company’s atrial fibrillation (AF) product sales for the first quarter came to $291m (£200m), which represented a 5% increase compared to the prior year quarter.

On a constant currency basis, St. Jude’s AF product sales increased 9% compared to the prior year quarter, which the company said was largely driven by continued adoption of the FlexAbility and TactiCath ablation catheters.

However, the company’s total cardiac rhythm management (CRM) sales, which include single and dual chamber implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) and pacemaker products, were $366m (£252m) for the first quarter of 2016, a 10% decline compared with the first quarter of 2015.

The company said that its CRM sales were impacted by sales in the United States where it does not have MRI compatible devices.

St. Jude medical president and CEO, Michael Rousseau said: “In the first quarter, we delivered sales and adjusted earnings per share at or above the high end of our guidance.

“With 10 product approvals and associated launches in key regions around the world, we demonstrated our commitment to bringing lifesaving products to patients while driving sales momentum in the areas of atrial fibrillation and heart failure.”