Market Development

During the year, we increased the size of our worldwide sales force to more than 100, and these team members successfully implemented our clinician education and market development programs. These efforts led to increased patient referrals, increased implant activity and the addition of new HeartMate II DT centers.

To facilitate adoption, we held a number of successful educational events, including fellows programs, VAD program coordinator training and well-attended user meetings in the U.S., Europe, and Asia Pacific. We also implemented programs focused on educating high-potential referring cardiologists about the advantages of MCS, and we will increase our efforts in this regard during 2011. Our patient-directed efforts generated HeartMate II success stories in leading national and local media outlets, and we implemented effective consumer-oriented, web-based programs.

A primary objective of our market development efforts in 2010 was the generation of increased data detailing the positive clinical and economic outcomes from the use of HeartMate II for both DT and BTT. A highlight of this effort was an update on HeartMate II DT Continued Access Protocol (CAP) patients presented at the 2010 American Heart Association Scientific Sessions. The data showed continued improvements in survival and adverse events when compared to the early trial experience from the study’s primary cohort. Survival for the CAP patients improved six percentage points at both 12 and 24 months, to 74 percent and 64 percent, respectively. The CAP patients also experienced significant reductions in a number of key adverse events, including a greater than 50 percent reduction in hemorrhagic stroke, a more than 35 percent reduction in device related infections, and a greater than 25 percent reduction in sepsis. CAP patients also demonstrated significant improvements in quality of life.