DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
St. Jude Medical Inc. (STJ) said the Food and Drug
Administration approved a new line of implantable defibrillator,
saying the devices had already been implanted in their first U.S.
patients.
The Unify and Fortify devices had already been rolled out in
Europe and had been expected to launch in the U.S. by midyear. The
company has said it wants to roll them out in Japan by early
2011.
St. Jude said the new line of devices have the smallest
footprint in the industry and fast recharge speed.
St. Jude competes in that market with Medtronic Inc. (MDT) and
Boston Scientific Corp. (BSX) in heart-rhythm devices. In April,
the company said Boston Sci's temporary sales halt on the products
partly contributed to its better-than-expected profit growth in the
first quarter.
Last week, the company said the Justice Department had made a
"civil investigative demand" about reimbursement practice for other
of its implantable-defibrillator products. St. Jude also said the
U.S. District Court in Massachusetts unsealed a whistleblower suit
in January filed by a former employee that is connected to a
long-running and industry-wide Justice Department probe into
heart-rhythm device marketing.
Shares closed Wednesday up 2.1% at $39.19. The stock
-By Joan E. Solsman, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-2291;
joan.solsman@dowjones.com