Medical Design Briefs - January 2025 - 6

Inside the OEM: Johnson & Johnson MedTech
Abiomed with its broad portfolio of
pumps, and within its surgery and orthopedics
businesses.
" It was exciting to be back and reengaging
with interventional cardiovascular, "
Michael Bodner, Johnson & Johnson
group president of heart recovery
and circulatory restoration, said at the
Stifel Healthcare Conference in November
2024. " It's been a while since
we've played in the interventional cardiovascular
space, as I define it - coronary,
peripheral, and heart recovery in
terms of heart failure. " From a data
readout perspective, on the Abiomed
side, we released the data on ECP, our
expandable cardiac power device -
our next-generation Impella pump.
That's going to be easier to use and expand
user pools and help us address
more patients with high-risk [percutaneous
coronary intervention]. And that
study met its primary safety and efficacy
end points, " he said.
Bodner noted that J&J held a lot of
events to talk about " tips and tricks " and
how to best optimize the procedure for
Abiomed. " We are introducing technology
that is optimizing the procedure,
making these devices easier to use, lower
profile, longer 12 times, and we're going
to be able to expand the types of patients
that we treat. "
" We want to focus on high growth,
high unmet need areas where we can
lead and that we provide value for all our
stakeholders, " he said. " Now if we can
lead in a way where we're number one or
number two, that's part of the calculus.
But where we can be the market creator,
even better. And if you think about
Shockwave, Abiomed, and V-Wave, those
are all in market creation parts of the innovation
cycle, where you got to introduce
scale and establish the standard of
care, these new therapies. And the competition
is still relatively far away. "
He added that as J&J looks to integrate
these companies, the company wants to
do so in a way that minimizes disruption
to patients, to customers, to physicians,
and to key stakeholders.
" We're pretty agnostic to small, medium,
or large [companies for our M&A
strategy], " said Bodner. " But to frame it
a little bit, I would say Abiomed and
Shockwave in the J&J context are
medium- sized. V-Wave was smallish. But
if you look at our history over the last 20
years, most of our acquisitions - I'd say
90 percent-plus - are more tuck-ins,
less than $1 billion in size. Having said
that, we're not agnostic to the larger
ones if they make sense. So, is there scientific
differentiation? Is there a path
where we can lead, ideally even be the
market creators and provide shareholder
value? "
On the Shockwave side, J&J announced
the completion of the Empower
study, a study just in females, who are
often underrepresented in clinical studies.
" They're harder to treat, vessels are
smaller, and a lot of times, there could
be more calcium, " said Bodner.
Shockwave's acquisition brings innovative
intravascular lithotripsy systems,
improving treatment for complex cardiovascular
conditions. " We're very excited
about Shockwave. The magic of
Shockwave is really taking lithotripsy
technology that was used for shattering
kidney stones and applying it to a simple
balloon catheter. As we all age, we
get hardening of the arteries, right?
This is calcium deposits start to form,
particularly after the age of 60. That
calcium can form either in the surface
of the artery or deeper in the layers of
the artery. The traditional way that
we've been treating those lesions has
either been with a high-pressure balloon
(40 atmosphere pressure). Using
lithotripsy applied to a standard balloon
makes the procedure simple, "
said Bodner.
" Those lithotripsy emitters create a sonic
pressure wave that goes through soft tissue
without damaging it. And it shatters
the calcium, making that vessel compliant
so a physician can then open up the vessel
and deploy a stent without having a waste
and a potential for stent thrombosis later.
The team at Shockwave is taking that technology
and making it easier to use.
Abiomed Integration
J&J has kept Abiomed as stand-alone
entity, but Bodner noted that doesn't
mean J&J has left it alone. " We're being
very thoughtful with our engagements.
And really, this is about amplifying
all the good work that they already
do. In the beginning, it was all around
getting our arms around their key talent.
And they have an unbelievable talent
population, talented population
across that entire organization. The
know-how is outstanding. The engineering
group, the original inventors
In November 2024, Shockwave Medical, a part of
Johnson & Johnson MedTech, announced the first clinical
outcomes associated with the Shockwave Javelin
Peripheral IVL Catheter, a novel, non-balloon-based
litho tripsy platform designed to modify calcium and
cross extremely narrowed vessels in patients with peripheral
artery disease. (Credit: Johnson & Johnson
MedTech)
6
The VARIPULSE™ Platform is designed to enable AFib treatment with a single device that combines PFA therapy
and advanced mapping with the CARTO™ 3 System, a 3D electroanatomical cardiac mapping system. (Credit:
Johnson & Johnson MedTech)
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Medical Design Briefs, January 2025

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Medical Design Briefs - January 2025

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