St. Jude to provide latest medical technologies to India

Hyderabad, April 19 (IANS) US-based global medical device company St. Jude Medical Inc. will make its latest technologies available to patients in India, a top company official said here.

"We will continue to launch patient-benefitting technologies as well as to invest in our employees, physician-training and important clinical research that helps advance the practice of medicine in India," Kaustav Banerjee, country manager, St. Jude Medical, told IANS.

St. Jude manufactures and distributes cardiovascular medical devices for the cardiac rhythm management, cardiology and cardiac surgery and atrial fibrillation therapy areas and neurostimulation medical devices for the management of chronic pain.

Banerjee said India is a focus market for the company, which Fortune magazine recently ranked as the top admired company in the medical equipment category, and among the top 50 most admired in the world.

"India is a very important market for St. Jude Medical and we are dedicated to improving the care of patients throughout the country," he said.

The firm, which has its India headquarters in Hyderabad, is focussing on educating physicians and patients about the symptoms and potential treatment options for cardiac problems such as arrhythmia, heart failure, sudden cardiac arrest, and heart valve repair and replacements.

"From our founding we have established several industry firsts, including the bi-leaflet heart valve which today remains the industry gold standard. We have several thousand non-expired patents in the US and international markets," said Banerjee.

St. Jude Medical is the only company to develop and offer Quadripolar technology which helps treat patients with heart failure, offering unique benefits that help the heart beat in sync that are not found in other cardiac resynchronization therapy defibrillators (CRT-Ds).

Approximately 10 percent of patients experience pacing-related lead complications and about five percent require surgical revision; because the quadripolar technology allows physicians to non-invasively adjust pacing locations or configurations, it has the potential to reduce patients' risk of needing multiple surgeries.

According to Banerjee, the company's Percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) optimization technologies, including Fractional Flow Reserve (FFR) measurement, are changing the way cardiovascular disease is being treated.

As more people are diagnosed with the disease and healthcare costs escalate, it has become increasingly important to find treatment options that can improve patient care in a cost effective manner; the landmark FAME study FFR has been demonstrated to do just that.

FFR works by providing a physiological measurement that identifies which coronary narrowings are responsible for obstructing the flow of blood to a patient's heart muscle. Knowing this measurement helps physicians to determine the best course of action for his or her patient, Banerjee added.

Headquartered in St. Paul, Minnesota, and listed on the New York Stock Exchange, St. Jude sells its devices in more than 100 countries. In 2011, the company's net sales were $5.612 billion.

(Mohammed Shafeeq can be contacted at m.shafeeq@ians.in)