Abiomed to Feature Impella at TCT - Analyst Blog

Leading cardiac assist devices maker Abiomed (ABMD) has announced its schedule of presentations at the 2010 Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics (TCT) scientific meeting, slated to be held at the Washington Convention Center (WCC) in Washington , DC from September 21–25. TCT, the annual scientific conference of the Cardiovascular Research Foundation (CRF), is the word's largest educational meeting focused on interventional cardiovascular medicine.
 
The Massachusetts-based devices company has released a long list of events that feature case reviews on its Impella cardiac pumps, updates to the USpella registry (a U.S. multicenter observational registry of Impella 2.5 patients) and real-world applications, to be presented in a three-part breakfast series hosted by the company.
 
Abiomed will conduct booth demonstrations and practical simulations of its heart recovery platforms daily throughout the week. The company expects live cases of Impella utilizations and panel discussions on the Impella technology to be conducted at the WCC.
 
Abiomed enjoys strong demand for its Impella cardiac assist device systems (includes Impella 2.5 and Impella 5.0). Roughly 595 U.S. commercial patients were treated with Impella products in first-quarter fiscal 2011, a 74% annualized growth. Higher Impella sales continue to fuel double-digit revenue growth. The company is pursuing a number of strategies to boost Impella utilization.
 
Abiomed's strategy focuses on heart recovery as the goal for all acute cardiac attacks. Its products are designed to enable the heart to rest, heal and recover. We believe this niche product line feeds a growing trend toward procedures that are either minimally invasive or assist the body recover more naturally.
 
However, Abiomed does not expect to make any profit in fiscal 2011, in part, due to the hefty expenses associated with Impella. Moreover, the company's legacy (non-Impella) business is shrinking and its strategy to add fewer new hospitals (or sites) with Impella 2.5 technology in fiscal 2011 may impair revenue growth. We are currently Neutral on Abiomed.