Abiomed Value Stock - Dividend - Research Selection

Description of the company

We are a leading provider of temporary mechanical circulatory support devices, and we offer a continuum of care to heart failure patients. We develop, manufacture and market proprietary products that are designed to enable the heart to rest, heal and recover by improving blood flow to the coronary arteries and end-organs and/or temporarily assisting the pumping function of the heart. Our products are used in the cardiac catheterization lab, or cath lab, by interventional cardiologists, the electrophysiology lab, the hybrid lab and in the heart surgery suite by heart surgeons. A physician may use our devices for patients who are in need of hemodynamic support prophylactically, urgently or emergently before, during or after angioplasty or heart surgery procedures. We believe that heart recovery is the optimal clinical outcome for a patient experiencing heart failure because it enhances the potential for the patient to go home with the patient’s native heart, facilitating the restoration of quality of life. In addition, we believe, that for the care of such patients, heart recovery is often the most cost-effective solution for the healthcare system.

Our strategic focus, which has resulted in the majority of our revenue growth is the market penetration of our family of Impella® heart pumps. The Impella device portfolio, which includes the Impella 2.5®, Impella CP®, Impella RP®, Impella LD® and Impella 5.0® devices, has supported numerous patients worldwide. We expect that almost all of our product and service revenue in the near future will be from our Impella devices. Revenues from our non-Impella devices, largely focused on the heart surgery suite, have been decreasing over the past several years and are expected to be insignificant as we have strategically shifted our sales and marketing efforts towards our Impella devices, primarily in the cath lab.

In March 2015, we received a Pre-Market Approval, or PMA, from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, or FDA, for use of the Impella 2.5 device during elective and urgent high-risk percutaneous coronary intervention, or PCI, procedures. In December 2016, the FDA expanded this PMA approval in the U.S. to include the Impella CP device. With these PMA indications, the Impella 2.5 and Impella CP devices provide the only minimally invasive hemodynamic support treatment options indicated for use during high-risk PCI procedures. In April 2016, the FDA approved a PMA supplement for our Impella 2.5, Impella CP, Impella 5.0 and Impella LD devices to provide treatment for ongoing cardiogenic shock that occurs following a heart attack or open heart surgery. The intent of the Impella system therapy is to reduce ventricular work and to provide the circulatory support necessary to allow heart recovery and early assessment of residual myocardial function.

In March 2017, we submitted a PMA application for Impella RP. We expect to continue to make additional PMA supplement submissions for our suite of Impella devices for additional indications.

Our Impella 2.5, Impella 5.0, Impella LD, Impella CP and Impella RP devices also have CE Mark approval and Health Canada approval, which allows us to market these devices in the European Union and Canada.

In September 2016, we received Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices Agency, or PMDA, approval from the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour & Welfare for our Impella 2.5 and Impella 5.0 heart pumps to provide treatment of drug-resistant acute heart failure in Japan. We are preparing for the market launch in Japan, including working with Japanese government authorities to obtain appropriate reimbursement for these products. We do not expect to have any material revenue in Japan during fiscal 2018.

In May 2017, we announced the enrollment of the first patient in the FDA approved prospective feasibility study, STEMI Door to Unloading with Impella CP system in acute myocardial infarction. This trial will focus on feasibility and safety of unloading the left ventricle using the Impella CP heart pump prior to primary PCI in patients presenting with ST segment elevation myocardial infarction, or STEMI, without cardiogenic shock with the hypothesis that this will potentially reduce infarct size. The study, which received Investigational Device Exemption, or IDE, approval from the FDA in October 2016, is a prospective, multi-center feasibility study. Up to 50 patients at 10 sites will be enrolled in the study. We enrolled the first patient in this study in April 2017 and we expect to complete enrollment in fiscal 2019.