Cordis
General Company Overview
Cordis is Johnson & Johnson's hearty subsidiary. The company develops products to treat circulatory system diseases. Cordis makes guidewires, balloons, catheters, and stents to treat a variety of circulatory system problems including coronary artery disease and cerebral aneurysms. Business units focus on developing cardiac, endovascular, neurological, and electrophysiological uses for the company's products. The firm's Cypher drug-eluting stent delivers sirolimus to treat coronary artery lesions. Cordis entered a marketing agreement with Guidant to promote drug-eluting stents; it has also agreed to acquire LuMend, which manufactures chronic total occlusion devices.
Other brands of Cordis
Biosense Webster, Inc.- Biosense Webster makes products that explore the terrain of the human heart. Its diagnostic and therapeutic catheters, used in cardiac procedures, integrate the company's proprietary braided technology, which allows for easier handling. Brands include NAVI-STAR (diagnostic deflectable tip) and CELSIUS (temperature ablation). The firm also makes electrophysiological (EP) guiding sheaths, as well as navigational mapping systems that feature location sensors and 3D images. Its CUSTOMCATH catheters can be custom designed according to size, length, and other specifications.
Challenges
A trend in aggressive bidding to acquire companies within the industry.
Top Competitors
· Boston Scientific-The company makes medical supplies used in minimally invasive surgical procedures. Its products are used to diagnose and treat conditions in a wide variety of medical fields, including cardiology, gynecology, oncology, radiology, urology, and vascular surgery. Products fashioned by Boston Scientific include catheters, surgical grafts, coronary and ureteral stents, polypectomy snares, and lithotripsy devices. Boston Scientific markets in some 70 countries worldwide, primarily through its own direct sales staff. The company has put forward a bid to acquire Guidant, which is also being courted by Boston Scientific competitor Johnson & Johnson.
· Guidant-Guidant, a global manufacturer of cardiovascular therapeutic devices and related products, is a leading maker of cardiac pacing devices (pacemakers and implanted defibrillators). The firm's vascular products are primarily used to open blocked arteries and keep them open. Guidant also makes cardiac and peripheral vascular repair surgical systems, including less-invasive devices that reduce pain and speed recovery time. Its primary sales markets are the US, Europe, and Japan. Johnson & Johnson plans to buy Guidant in a deal worth around $21 billion; Boston Scientific has countered with a bid of $25 billion for the company.
· Medtronic-Medtronic is a leading maker of implantable biomedical devices. The company manufactures defibrillators and pacemakers, including devices for slow or rapid heartbeats. Subsidiary Medtronic Sofamor Danek makes spinal implant devices and drug delivery systems, and Medtronic Xomed makes surgical tools for ear, nose, and throat specialists. Other divisions include Medtronic Vascular (catheters and stents) and Cardiac Surgery Technologies (mechanical and tissue heart valves).
In the news
10/30/2005, NewsRxDrugs, Johnson & Johnson company acquires LuMend
Cordis Corp., a Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) company, announced the acquisition of LuMend, Inc., a privately held company focused on the development of chronic total occlusion (CTO) devices to treat peripheral vascular disease.
A CTO is a complete or partial blockage of an artery that can lead to surgery or lower extremity amputation. Symptoms of an occlusion in the lower limbs, the most common location, are similar to other types of vessel blockages, and may include leg pain, limping, inability to walk, and sores and infections that won't heal. Treatments for CTOs range from medication to bypass surgery to less-invasive therapies.
01/01/2006, NewsRxDrugs, Italian health office assigns higher formulary price premium to sirolimus-eluting coronary stent
Cordis Corporation announced that Italy's Ministry of Health has established a higher price premium for the CYPHER Sirolimus-eluting Coronary Stent over the Taxus Stent based on the medical device's excellent long-term clinical results and health economics data.
The ministry's Commissione Unica Dispositivi medica (CUD), the National Committee for Medical Devices, assessed the clinical outcomes and cost- effectiveness of drug-eluting stents. The tertiary payer's CUD analysis considered avoidance of costs associated with re-intervention procedures to assign differential value of EUR$1678 (US$1,985.49) for the CYPHER Stent compared to EUR$1367 (US$1,499.43) for the Taxus Stent, a 23% difference in price.