Medtronic, Inc. (MDT): St. Jude Medical, Inc. (STJ)’s Enlightening New Hope

So far, however, only the international markets have paid off in the renal denervation push. St. Jude overcame a big hurdle in approaching the U.S. market by winning FDA approval to launch an American trial of the EnligHTN earlier this summer, something Medtronic has already achieved. However, it’ll be quite some time before the company’s even close to winning regulatory approval to launch the device in the U.S.

Keeping steady in the race
What’s the outlook on this device — and promising market — for St. Jude? So far, it looks like the company’s settling into a tenuous second place in this market, with its U.S. trial launch keeping it just ahead of Covidien plc (NYSE:COV) and Boston Scientific Corporation (NYSE:BSX). However, this newest generation of EnligHTN approved this week has a critical advantage over Medtronic’s leading device: Its four-minute average ablation time is more than nine times faster than Medtronic’s Symplicity, which the latter company says averages around 38 minutes for a procedure.

That might not be enough to beat out Medtronic in the race to reach U.S. approval, as Medtronic’s aiming at 2015 for an American launch of its device. While St. Jude might not achieve that critical first-mover advantage, the company’s in good shape so far in the early development of this young but promising industry. As St. Jude looks to turn around falling sales, keep an eye on the EnligHTN to become a big part of this firm’s future.

The article St. Jude’s Enlightening New Hope originally appeared on Fool.com and is written by Dan Carroll.

Fool contributor Dan Carroll has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends Covidien. The Motley Fool owns shares of Medtronic.

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