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Former Medtronic President Thomas Holloran passes away

Former Medtronic executive and board member Thomas Holloran [Image courtesy of the University of St. Thomas]Thomas Holloran — an executive from Medtronic’s earliest days who served on the medtech giant’s board for decades — has died at the age of 94.

Holloran passed away on the evening of Feb. 15, the Star Tribune of Minneapolis reported.

A biography on the website of the University of St. Thomas — where Holloran played an important role in creating the law school and founding the Holloran Center for Ethical Leadership — recounts how Halloran in the late 1950s was a partner at Wheeler and Fredrikson, the firm that would become Fredrikson and Byron. It was there that he helped incorporate Medtronic, which at the time was a small operation working out of a garage.

The Star Tribune says Holloran joined Medtronic’s board in 1960, where he served for the rest of the 20th century. He eventually worked for the company as general counsel, working …

Medtronic is exiting the ventilator market

Medtronic’s Puritan Bennett 560 ventilator [Image courtesy of Medtronic]Medtronic (NYSE:MDT) + announced today that it will exit what it describes as its increasingly unprofitable ventilator product line.

The move comes more than a year after Medtronic said it would spin off its Patient Monitoring and Respiratory Interventions businesses, part of its Medical Surgical portfolio. Reports last year claimed that other medtech companies, including GE HealthCare and ICU Medical, and the private equity firm Carlyle Group were among those considering a purchase of the businesses.

In the end, Medtronic’s leadership decided instead to end the ventilator business, combining what remains of Patient Monitoring and Respiratory Interventions into one business unit called Acute Care and Monitoring (ACM). The company said in a news release: “Given this increased investment along with an improved competitive landscape, the comp…

How GLP-1s tanked and reshaped the medtech stock market in 2023

Analysts weigh in on how the GLP-1 craze caused one of the biggest swings in the medtech stock market in recent years.

[Image courtesy of Nick Chong on Unsplash]In a tumultuous year for the medtech industry, promising clinical trial results on glucagon-like peptide 1 agonists (GLP-1s) created a seismic shift in the medtech stock market, triggering one of the largest dips in market value that analysts have seen in years.

While analysts said the medtech stock market performed well in 2023 – driven by strong market growth from the backlog of procedures that built up during the pandemic and more innovation and new product launches from companies – the fear of GLP-1s prevailed among investors, sending medtech stocks down significantly in the second half of the year, even as top executives sought to allay concerns.

The specter of GLP-1s such as Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy and Ozempic loomed large, casting doubt on medtech’s future trajectory at the end of the year. However, the stocks have almost fully recovered since then. Analysts predict a rebound in 2024, with diminishing head…

DeviceTalks Boston 2024: Our favorite panels and new additions

Our team picks favorites from our upcoming show, including some new additions to the program.

Leaders from CMR Surgical, the developer of the Versius surgical robotics system, will speak at DeviceTalks Boston 2024. [Photo courtesy of CMR Surgical]

I enjoy reading bookstore staff recommendations. It’s nice to see how people in the know like to spend their time.

But if you asked me to pick my favorite panels on the agenda for DeviceTalks Boston, taking place May 1–2, 2024 at the Boston Convention & Exhibition Center, I couldn’t do it.

In fact, I won’t do it. Sorry, dear reader, I’ve put too much into this agenda to pick one favorite session. Plus, I owe neutrality to our speakers — amazing professionals willing to give up two days to help me create something. That’s a covenant that I cannot violate by selecting a favorite.

But I can put our editorial team on the spot to pick their favorites. And…

Medtronic names first chief sustainability officer

New Medtronic Chief Sustainability Officer Raman Venkatesh brings experience in sustainability efforts to the medtech giant. [Image courtesy of Ken Washington on LinkedIn]A Medtronic (NYSE: MDT) + executive shared on social media that the company named a chief sustainability officer.

Raman Venkatesh will join the medtech giant as VP and CSO — a newly created role — starting on Feb. 19. Ken Washington, Medtronic SVP and chief technology officer, announced the appointment on LinkedIn.

In the role, Venkatesh holds responsibility for leading the development and execution of the company’s environmental sustainability strategy.

“I am excited to see Raman and his team drive Medtronic forward on our sustainability journey,” Washington posted. “I am confident that together we will shape and unlock new innovative solutions that serve our patients and our planet.

Venkatesh’s career history…

Medtronic touts cost-effectiveness of Linq insertable cardiac monitors

The Reveal Linq implantable cardiac monitor (ICM). [Image courtesy of Medtronic]Medtronic (NYSE: MDT) + today announced new cost-effectiveness data from a study looking at its Reveal Linq insertable cardiac monitor (ICM).

Results from the STROKE AF clinical study demonstrated that continuous monitoring with Reveal Linq proved significantly more cost-effective than the standard of care in ischemic stroke patients with large artery and small vessel disease. Medtronic plans to present results at the AHA/ASA International Stroke Conference 2024 in Phoenix.

Medtronic reported data from 492 patients in the STROKE AF study. It took place across 33 centers in the U.S. Reveal Linq, meanwhile, received FDA clearance in 2014 and has availability worldwide. Previous results from STROKE AF demonstrated a boost in AFib detection registering about 10-fold among stroke patients.

The study projected that ICM patients experience 53 …

10 surgical robotics companies you need to know

The surgical robotics space saw a major shakeup last year. The da Vinci SP surgical robotics system [Image courtesy of Intuitive Surgical]“Robotics is hard. Robotics in healthcare is hard.”

Hani Abouhalka, Johnson & Johnson’s company group chair for Robotics & Digital, said those words at our DeviceTalks West event in California in October.

It pretty much sums up the situation for medtech companies large and small that sought to compete against Intuitive in the soft-tissue surgical robotics space. Despite the increased competition, Intuitive remains the undisputed leader. It’s even moving forward on a next-gen da Vinci robot.

For its part, Johnson & Johnson is sticking with plans to develop its Ottava surgical robot. J&J now plans to submit Ottava for FDA investigational device exemption (IDE) in the second half of 2024 in order to start clinical trials.

Even though it is sticking with robotic surgery, J&J laid off employees in th…

Medtronic enrolls first patient in aneurysm repair trial

The Endurant II/IIs stent graft systems (left) and Heli-FX EndoAnchor system (right) [Images courtesy of Medtronic]Medtronic (NYSE: MDT) + announced today that it enrolled the first patient in the Hercules trial comparing abdominal aortic aneurysm repair methods.

Hercules compares endosuture aneurysm repair (ESAR) to standard endovascular aneurysm repair (EVAR). It looks at these methods in patients who have an abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) with a wide, infrarenal neck diameter.

Abdominal aortic aneurysms occur in about 1.4% of people ages 50 to 84 in the U.S., according to Cleveland Clinic. Aging, tobacco use and certain medical conditions can cause the aorta’s wall to weaken and bulge. A burst is life-threatening. Over more than a decade, Medtronic’s Endurant stents have grown as an alternative to open surgery.

Patients in the Hercules trial will receive either the Endurant II/IIs stent graft (EVAR arm) o…

How does medtech CEO compensation compare?

[Image from Unsplash]Medtech CEO compensation averaged $10.5 million during the companies’ most recent fiscal years.

That number from our recent MassDevice analysis may seem like a lot to an average person — but not as much in the world of corporate CEOs.

In fact, the average compensation of S&P 500 company CEOs was $25.2 million in 2022, according to the Economic Policy Institute (EPI), a nonprofit research institute that studies the impact of economic trends and policies on working people in the U.S.

Geoff Martha, who, as CEO of Medtronic, runs the world’s largest medical device company, saw a total compensation of $15.4 million. But look over at the pharmaceutical industry, where revenue numbers are much higher, and the head of the world’s largest pharma company — Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla — brought in $33 million.

As businesses mature into publicly traded companies and revenue grows, it makes sense for CEO compensation to become larger.

First U.S. implants completed with recently FDA-cleared Medtronic deep brain stimulation tech

The Percept RC deep brain stimulation system [Image courtesy of Medtronic]Doctors have completed the first U.S. implants of the Medtronic (NYSE: MDT) + Percept RC neurostimulator for deep brain stimulation (DBS).

In a LinkedIn post, Medtronic VP and GM for Brain Modulation, Amaza Reitmeier, confirmed the milestone. Percept RC received FDA approval earlier this month, with company officials calling it a “game-changing” device.

“I’m delighted to announce the first U.S. patient implants of our new Medtronic Percept RC neurostimulator for deep brain stimulation (DBS)!” Reitmeier wrote. “Congratulations to all! Thank you for your dedication to bringing life-changing DBS therapy to all who need it.”

Dr. Casey Halpern and a team at Penn Medicine performed the first Percept RC implants in the U.S. Other neurosurgery teams also completed implants, including Dr. Alexander Papanastassiou an…

Medtronic has positive spinal cord stimulation data

The Vanta recharge-free neurostimulator offers DTM therapy. [Image from Medtronic]Medtronic (NYSE: MDT) + today announced data from two clinical trials supporting its spinal cord stimulation (SCS) technologies.

The medtech giant shared data at the North American Neuromodulation Society (NANS) annual meeting in Las Vegas. Results demonstrated the benefits of SCS in patients with chronic low back pain (CLBP) and leg pain. The company also plans to highlight its recently FDA-approved Percept RC deep brain stimulation system at NANS.

Medtronic’s data included evaluations of closed-loop SCS over three months in Australia. That study looked at the company’s investigational, next-generation rechargeable SCS system. The system holds European and Japanese approval but remains investigational in the U.S. and Australia.

Additionally, Medtronic shared 24-month outcomes for its DTM SCS compared to conventional medic…

January 2024 edition: The Leadership in Medtech issue

Opening the brain’s secret back door: A conversation with Synchron co-founder and CEO Dr. Tom Oxley

How Recor Medical won the renal denervation race for FDA approval

Medtech’s biggest personnel moves of 2023

Leadership and innovation in medtech

Creativity, energy, agility — those are three words Recor Medical CEO Lara Barghout used to describe the culture at the world’s first device developer to win FDA approval for hypertension-treating renal denervation (RDN).

You can add persistence to that list. Ever since its founding in 2009, Recor Medical and its team has been pushing to deliver a safe and effective RDN system. The seemingly long odds got longer as larger competitors pulled the plug on their own programs — or in Medtronic’s case, pushed on despite clinical trial failures and won approval shortly after Recor.

Our annual Leadership in Medtech issue of Medical Design &a…