Market for heart devices may get a boost

CHICAGO (CNNMoney.com) -- St. Jude Medical and other makers of implants that regulate people's heartbeats could get a lift from a study that confirmed the effectiveness of two different methods of testing the need for the implants.

A St. Jude (Charts)-financed study compared two types of diagnostics tests for predicting the risk of sudden heart death and gauging whether a patient needs one of the implants, known as defibrillators. The defibrillators shock a patient's irregular heartbeat back to normal, with the intent of preventing death.

The study, announced Wednesday at the annual American Heart Association conference, showed that St. Jude's diagnostic test, where wire electrodes are placed into the heart, has the same effectiveness as a cheaper and less invasive computerized test made by Cambridge Heart (Charts), according to researcher Dr. David Rosenbaum of the MetroHealth Heart and Vascular Center in Ohio.

Cardiologists and an analyst believe this test could boost the use of implantable defibrillators, which are manufactured by market leader Medtronic Inc (Charts)., as well as St. Jude and Boston Scientific (Charts).

Dr. Rosenbaum said he believes the study "would increase use of ICDs, because it would empower physicians to make that decision" by offering two rather than one way to test the need for the devices, known as implantable cardioverter defibrillators.

Dr. Douglas Zipes, former president of the American College of Cardiology, said it would increase the use of ICDs in patients who need them, but aren't getting them.

"The [ICD] market is very under-penetrated as it stands now," said Dr. Zipes, who was not involved in this study. "We're probably only reaching 15 to 20 percent of those who make the criteria for implants."

David Zimbalist, analyst for Natexis Bleichroeder, wrote in a published note that if the study results in the increased use of the computerized test, then it could boost referrals for at-risk patients to receive implantable defibrillators.

Zimbalist believes that the market for ICDs could grow 6 to 8 percent by the second half of 2007.

Rosenbaum is considered an independent researcher for the St. Jude-funded study, though he works as a consultant for Cambridge Heart.

Zimbalist does not own shares of stock in the companies mentioned here, though Natexis Bleichroeder makes a market in Cambridge Heart.

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