Business & Tech

Medtronic Produces Innovative Device and $4 Billion in Quarterly Revenue

A roundup on new developments at the Fridley-based medical device company.

Medtronic, Inc., with headquarters in Fridley, said Monday that a clinical study showed that a device used to reduce the size of patients' enlarged hearts could reduce death and hospitaliation rates, the Star Tribune reported.

The cardiac resynchronization therapy process could be a radical innovation for Medtronic, providing a more permanent treatment than current products on the market.

The Star Tribune has more:

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For Medtronic, CRT represents a new generation of technology that focuses on correcting the more underlying problems of heart failure rather than simply managing the disease.

For example, Medtronic's traditional core products of ICDs and pacemakers allow patients to manage their irregular heart activity by shooting electricity into the organ when needed.

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The announcement is one of a series of successes over the past week for the medical device giant.

On Aug. 20 Medtronic announced it received European approval for its Viva/Brava devices for heart failure patients.

And on Aug. 21 it issued an earnings report that showed more than $4 billion in revenue for the first quarter of fiscal year 2013, a 5 percent increase over the previous quarter.

Medtronic CEO Omar Ishrak said on Aug. 23, at an annual shareholders' meeting in Fridley, that the company plans to focus more resources on emerging markets.

"We're increasing our investments in emerging markets, and we expect this part of our global portfolio to continue to deliver sustained double-digit growth," he said, according to the Star Tribune.

The Star Tribune has more about Medtronic's strategy.

But, especially in the area of increasing value, future success in the United States will not only rely on the launch of new products. It will also depend on increasing the value of Medtronic products and services to a base of customers that includes the people responsible for paying the bills, for purchasing devices and for managing patient care from admission to outpatient follow-up visits. Medtronic must prove the value of its technology and services in managing and reducing overall health care costs.

In the area of innovation, Ishrak talked about a new focus in research and development. While Medtronic spends more than 9 percent of its revenue on research and development, Ishrak said the company is working to be smarter about it -- cutting the number of overall projects while putting more money into those efforts deemed most likely to succeed.


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