6 Important Quotes from Medtech Leaders

Recent earnings calls for the largest medical device companies provide hints when it comes to the future of the industry.

Chris Newmarker

Major medtech companies have been wrapping up another series of quarterly earnings releases. In the process, calls with analysts have included several telling quotes about where some major companies are going.

Here are six quotes that have caught our eye at Qmed:

Gary Pruden

Worldwide Chairman, Medical Devices at Johnson & Johnson

October 13 Transcript

"The World Health Organization estimates that nearly a third of the world's global disease burden could be addressed through surgery. Yet nearly 5 billion people continue to lack access to safe, timely and affordable surgical care. Our goal is to reach more patients and restore more lives. We aim to achieve this through meaningful innovation and efforts to expand access to care including continued physician training. We are confident that the results will be improved standards of care for patients around the world and sales growth above industry rates or maintaining industry leading competitive margins."

George S. Barrett

Chairman and CEO, Cardinal Health

November 2 Transcript

"As we recently announced, subsequent to the end of the quarter, we closed our [$2 billion] Cordis acquisition, which strengthened our ability to provide innovative, efficient and effective cardiovascular solutions for aging populations across the world. This is a key element in our physician preference item strategy. Our team did an outstanding job managing the many working parts across this global business to close the transaction dead on our timeline. ... The modernization of our portfolio is particularly relevant as we see a system in which payment models continue to evolve. Now more than ever, it's critical that we have the ability to get patients the right care at the right time and in the right setting. That's why in August, we took a majority stake in naviHealth, a national based market leader in post-acute management for payers, health systems and providers. Through its predictive analytics and evidence based protocols, naviHealth helps determine the appropriate care plan for patients post discharge. This kind of predictive population management is a critical capability for Cardinal Health."

Kevin Lobo

Chairman, president and CEO, Stryker

October 22 Transcript

"I feel very good about the health of our business overall, with the one exception of the emerging markets, which I think will continue to be difficult. ... Like every year, in 2016 we're going to have our share of tailwinds and headwinds, but--and we'll give our guidance in January as you know--but I feel very good about our execution, our management teams and our ability to consistently deliver strong sales growth."

Daniel J. Starks

Chairman, president, and CEO, St. Jude Medical

October 21 Transcript

"We see the acquisition of Thoratec as a capstone on our transition to become the first and only medical device company that can surround the epidemic disease of heart failure with a comprehensive portfolio of medical device solutions and related services. We think this can give us a sustainable competitive advantage in a heart failure market, which may well become the largest market medical device technology over the next 10 years. ... Experts both in the United States and Europe agree that unless we get smarter about how we deal with heart failure, the cost of caring for heart failure patients over the next 15 years is on track to double.  ...

"Enter St. Jude Medical with the right product in the right market at the right time. The cornerstone of our heart failure program is our CardioMEMS technology. As we have reported on past calls, the peer-reviewed clinical evidence is that CardioMEMS technology can help reduce heart failure re-admission rates for eligible Medicare heart failure patients by as much as 78% at the same time CardioMEMS helps provide a mortality benefit for Class III heart failure patients."

David Dvorak

President and CEO, Zimmer Biomet

October 29 Transcript

"I think you're going to see an incredible cadence of new offerings, by virtue of the combination [of Zimmer and Biomet]. What it allows us to do in the intermediate to longer term is to repurpose dollars into more differentiated innovation, and get after it in a more aggressive way addressing unmet clinical needs because of the scale that we have as a business, not just in large joints, but in the other product categories that are oftentimes faster growing markets."

Michael A. Mussallem

Chairman and CEO, Edwards Lifesciences

October 26 Transcript

"Our strong year-to-date financial performance demonstrates the strength of our market-leading product portfolio. We believe our strategy of focused innovation can transform patient care and drive value into the healthcare system and to shareholders. In light of the impressive body of clinical evidence, we're enthusiastic about the continued expansion of transcatheter-based therapies for the many structural heart patients still in need, positioning us for a bright future."

Chris Newmarker is senior editor of Qmed and MPMN. Follow him on Twitter at @newmarker.

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