Boston Scientific Is Accelerating Category Leadership Strategy

Boston Scientific (BSX) is a global medical technology company with a presence around the globe. The company’s products impact 24.0 million patients worldwide. It currently has a global market opportunity of $40.0 billion, which is expected to grow to $50.0 billion by fiscal 2020. The company is focused on expanding its product portfolio and geographic reach in order to establish category leadership in all its business segments. It consistently invests in research and development initiatives to develop its product pipeline.

Boston Scientific is the leader in the DES (drug-eluting stent) market in the United States with its Synergy Bioabsorbable Polymer DES. The company has established its leadership in the device market for intravascular ultrasound imaging, complex percutaneous coronary interventions, and chronic total occlusions.

In the structural heart segment, BSX has a leading market position. However, with the recall of its Lotus valves, the company suffered a setback. In 4Q17, it expects to relaunch the valves in Europe and submit a premarket approval application in the United States.

In the Cardiac Rhythm Management segment, Boston Scientific aims to provide an insertable cardiac monitor system with a diagnostic-only platform in 2019. It is designed to enable monitoring of cardiac arrhythmia through a mobile interface.

Boston Scientific’s Rhythmia system has been launched in more than 25 countries. The company says it is superior to other technologies in terms of five times faster mapping and a higher number of data points. It has been used for the treatment of around 13,000 cases to date around the world.

Major competitors in the medical device industry in the United States include Medtronic (MDT), Abbott Laboratories (ABT), and Edwards Lifesciences (EW). Investors can get exposure to Boston Scientific and its peers by investing in the iShares US Medical Devices (IHI).