Medtronic recalls flow-diverting stents

The recall comes after as many as four deaths and 17 injuries were linked to Medtronic’s devices. Credit: Assist m4x1ihght happiness / Shutterstock

Medtronic’s latest recall of the Pipeline Vantage 027 and 021 products is likely to result in revenue losses in the flow-diverting stents market. The flow-diverting stents market was worth $746.9m in 2024 and is expected to reach $1.03bn in 2034 with a compound annual growth rate of 3.3%, according to GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company. This costly string of incidents can be expected to cause some hesitancy towards using Medtronic’s flow-diverting stents in the near future. Healthcare providers may look to more reliable devices when performing delicate procedures such as treating aneurysms in the case of this device.

The recall comes after as many as four deaths and 17 injuries were linked to Medtronic’s devices due to tubes unable to properly attach to blood vessel walls throughout procedures, resulting in risks to the patient for stroke, thrombosis, and death.

Due to the severity of this recall, there is a significant opportunity to make gains in the flow-diversion stents market for Terumo and Stryker, however, it is unlikely to translate into major changes in market position in the overarching neurovascular embolisation market. In the larger neurovascular embolisation device market, Medtronic is a major player, making up the largest portion of about 31.8% of the global market with competitors such as Stryker and Terumo taking up 25.3% and 17.4% of the market, respectively. However, looking specifically at the flow diversion-stents section of neurovascular embolisation devices, Medtronic dominates this space, taking up approximately 55.9% of the market with Stryker and Terumo covering 18.5% and 18.9%, respectively.

The global neurovascular embolisation market is expected to continue to increase as a result of better patient outcomes for endovascular procedures for treating arteriovenous malformations (AVMs) rather than surgical procedures, which are more invasive. Additionally, incidences of AVMs are expected to grow due to population trends and advancements in diagnostic technologies are also anticipated to boost growth in this area.

Medtronic has incurred a substantial complication in flow-diversion stents that could result in notable losses. Although this presents a setback for flow-diversion stents, it is unlikely to have a meaningful effect on its position in neurovascular embolisation overall, which is expected to display significant growth over the next decade.

Taking top spot in biotech IPOs this year is CG Oncology – the cancer drug specialist raised $380m when it hit the NASDAQ trading boards in January. This increased to $437m at IPO close after the underwriters exercised the option to purchase additional shares.

Funds raised are going towards CG’s lead asset, cretostimogene grendenorepevec, an oncolytic virus immunotherapy, which is in development for the treatment of high-grade non-muscle invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC) and muscle-invasive bladder cancer.

GlobalData’s business fundamentals senior analyst Ophelia Chan says: “Oncology continued to dominate as the leading therapeutic area for IPOs this year, highlighted by CG Oncology’s $437m upsized IPO—the largest and first of the year. The company’s robust clinical data and ability to secure substantial capital have contributed to its strong performance in 2024.”

After a quiet summer, the IPO market reached full swing in autumn when Bicara Therapeutics, Zenas BioPharma, and MBX Biosciences all opened on the NASDAQ on the same Friday in September. The ‘triple-header event’ saw the three companies pull in over $700m combined. It was no surprise that the surge in activity came after the Federal Reserve’s decision to lower interest rates for the first time in years, ushering in a more inviting funding environment. This fruitful month was a stark contrast to August, which saw a significant global stock market dip amid fears of a US recession.

In June, Telix Pharmaceuticals – an emerging player in the fast-growing radiopharmaceutical space – pulled a last-minute plug on its IPO. The Australian company had been planning to list on NASDAQ and was on course to raise $232m – a value that would have placed it high on the list of biotech IPO sizes this year. Telix cited that its board did not move forward with the plans due to market conditions at the time.

Numb feet, bleeding legs and dehydrated bodies mark their journeys – not to mention infectious diseases and psychological trauma. Studies have identified outbreaks of measles, diphtheria and malaria across Venezuela, while tuberculosis, typhoid and HIV, are also resurgent.

Australia could be one of the main beneficiaries of this dramatic increase in demand, where private companies and local governments alike are eager to expand the country’s nascent rare earths production. In 2021, Australia produced the fourth-most rare earths in the world. It’s total annual production of 19,958 tonnes remains significantly less than the mammoth 152,407 tonnes produced by China, but a dramatic improvement over the 1,995 tonnes produced domestically in 2011.

The dominance of China in the rare earths space has also encouraged other countries, notably the US, to look further afield for rare earth deposits to diversify their supply of the increasingly vital minerals. With the US eager to ringfence rare earth production within its allies as part of the Inflation Reduction Act, including potentially allowing the Department of Defense to invest in Australian rare earths, there could be an unexpected windfall for Australian rare earths producers.