Boston Scientific (BSX)

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Dan Pan

nicholasmoy

Geoffrey Jordan

Boston Scientific (NYSE: BSX) makes cardiology products such as drug-eluting stents and pacemakers, which each respectively accounting for 21% and 16% of total revenues. Drug-coated stents are used to prop up coronary arteries to help prevent heart attacks, but their effectiveness have been questioned after they were linked to a risk of blood clots, as well as competition from Abbott's stent Xience.^[1]

Boston Scientific also makes Endosurgery and Neuromodulation products. The Endosurgery group includes esophageal, gastric, and duodenal intervention products; colorectal, pancreatico-biliary, and pulmonary intervention devices; and products for urinary tract intervention and bladder disease, prostate intervention, pelvic floor reconstruction and urinary incontinence, gynecology, and oncology. The Neuromodulation group comprises Precision Spinal Cord Stimulation system for the treatment of chronic pain of the lower back and legs, and HiResolution 90K Cochlear Implant system to restore hearing to the profoundly deaf. Boston Scientific Corporation markets its products through direct sales force, and a network of distributors and dealers.

Ultimately, Boston Scientific's continued success will depend heavily on how well it manages to maintain its market share in the face of increasingly tough competition and its serious quality-control issues, while continuing to invest in its strong development pipeline so that it will be able to compete in the next generation of medical devices.

Corporate Overview

Business and Financial Metrics

Second Quarter 2010 Results^[2]

During the second quarter of 2010 Boston Scientific achieved sales of $1.928 billion, reporting GAAP earnings of $0.06 per share with adjusted EPS of $0.12. The company maintained its leadership position in the global drug-eluting stent (DES) market with 38 percent market share worldwide. The company also launched the third-generation TAXUS Elemen Paclitaxel-Eluting Coronary Stent System in the European Union and other CE Mark countries.

Net income for the quarter was $98 million, compared to $158 million in the second quarter of 2010.

Yup, I know those episodes. And, you are right. They have tuenrd the dynamic into all this concern for his addiction, NOT his pain, even if they disguise it by saying they care about his pain. And that frustrates me beyond belief.I think the thing I like about House is that he isn't all cuddly and inspirational and brave, or whatever other trope people like to throw at people who are differently abled. He's a cranky jerk (possibly the only well developed character other than Chase and Cameron, who I think are) who deals with pain, and the flaw, IMNSHO, is that those people feel free, even as doctors, to object to his care choices. They can't get past that he is happy that way, that his addiction, which doesn't affect them, is their problem, not his.

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Competition

Competition in the advanced medical devices industry is limited by two factors:

• Competitors have similarly high costs in development and manufacturing, and thus it is difficult for a company to gain a large advantage by cutting costs.
• Competitors all have large enough capacity that meeting demand is not an issue.

Thus, the main factor that will affect the performance of Boston Scientific and its competitors is its ability to capture market share through improving the technology and performance of its devices. In this sense, Boston Scientific compares favorably to its competitors, as it has strong pipelines in both its core DES and CRM businesses, and it continues to innovate in other fields. In the CRM business, its main competitors include Medtronic (MDT) and St. Jude Medical (STJ).

Boston's heavy dependence on coronary stents leaves it vulnerable to the prospect of two new competitors, and recent studies which suggest that stents are not as useful as they were thought to be. As such, last year was especially important for Boston Scientific, as it saw the successful acquisition of Guidant, a major provider in the area of cardiovascular medical products. With this merger, Boston Scientific now has a new venue of growth that will take it away from its traditional dependence on the coronary stent market. However, Guidant has been plagued with quality issues in the past, and the ability of Boston to deal with these and its own pre-existing problems, will play a major role in the performance of the company.

However, what matters most is how well Boston's technology performs when compared with that of its competitors, specifically in clinical trials.

Boston’s products will have to compete with those of its competitors in clinical trials. A study conducted by Abbott Labs found that Abbott’s new product Xience V was more effective than Boston Scientific’s Taxus. Medtronic has also introduced a new entry into the DES market, Endeavor.

References

1. ↑
2. ↑ PR Newswire: "Boston Scientific Announces Results for Second Quarter Ended June 30, 2010"