ABIOMED

Abiomed, Inc. engages in the research, development, and sale of medical devices to assist or replace the pumping function of the failing heart. It also provides a continuum of care to heart failure patients. 

The company offers Impella 2.5, a percutaneous micro heart pump with integrated motor and sensors; and Impella CP, a device for use by interventional cardiologists to support patients in the cath lab, as well as by cardiac surgeons in the heart surgery suite. It also provides Impella 5.0, Impella LD, and Impella 5.5, which are percutaneous micro heart pumps with integrated motors and sensors for use primarily in the heart surgery suite; Impella RP, a percutaneous catheter-based axial flow pump; Impella SmartAssist platform that includes optical sensor technology for improved pump positioning and the use of algorithms that enable improved native heart assessment during the weaning process. 

Impella Connect, a cloud-based technology that enables secure and remote viewing of the automated Impella controller for physicians and hospital staffs; and OXY-1 System, a portable external respiratory assistance device. In addition, the company is developing Impella ECP, a pump for blood flow of greater than three litres per minute; Impella XR Sheath, a sheath that expands and recoils allowing small bore access and closure with Impella heart pumps; Impella BTR, a percutaneous micro heart pump with integrated motors and sensors; and preCARDIA, a catheter-mounted superior vena cava therapy system designed to rapidly treat acutely decompensated heart failure. 

Abiomed, Inc. sells its products through direct sales and clinical support personnel in Germany, France, the United States, Japan, Europe, Canada, Latin America, the Asia-Pacific, and the Middle East. The company was founded in 1981 and is headquartered in Danvers, Massachusetts.

Abiomed was founded in Danvers, Massachusetts by David M. Lederman in 1981 as Applied Biomedical Corporation. That year, the company commenced the development of an artificial heart. Funded by federal research grants, Lederman partnered with The Texas Heart Institute to develop the AbioCor, a grapefruit-sized electromagnetic device with an internal battery that completely replaces the heart without wires or tubes passing through the skin. 

In July 2001, AbioCor became the first artificial heart successfully implanted in a patient, where it pumped more than 20 million times. Fourteen of the AbioCor devices were implanted, during clinical trials from 2001 to 2004, with the longest-living recipient surviving 512 days. The AbioCor won FDA approval in 2006 for patients who are near death and do not qualify for a heart transplant. In 2004, Michael R. Minogue became president and CEO of Abiomed. In 2005, Abiomed purchased ventricular assist device company Impella CardioSystems AG of Aachen, Germany, maker of the Impella heart pump, developed by Thorsten Siess, who is now the Chief Technology Officer at Abiomed. After Abiomed acquired Impella the company's focus shifted from heart replacement to heart recovery. 

In July 2014, Abiomed acquired German heart pump maker ECP in a deal worth up to $30 million. The deal included a nearly $2.8 million buyout of AIS GmbH Aachen Innovative Solutions, which owns some of the patents licensed to ECP. In May 2018, Abiomed was added to the S&P 500 index. During the S&P's rise from 2000 to 3000, Abiomed was the index's top-performing stock. In 2018, Abiomed built a $17 million Innovation Center to facilitate research and product development at its headquarters in Danvers. The 29,800-square-foot facility features laboratories for blood, optical, software, mechanical and electrical research, plus a production line. 

In 2019, Barron's ranked Abiomed the 4th best stock of the 2010s, with a total return of 1,983%. while Fortune ranked Abiomed 19th on the magazine's list of 100 fastest-growing companies. In April 2020, Abiomed acquired medical device company Breethe, which had developed a portable extracorporeal membrane oxygenation system that acts like an artificial lung, oxygenating and removing carbon dioxide from the blood of a patient in cardiogenic shock or respiratory failure. The technology, now known as the Abiomed Breethe OXY-1 System, received FDA 510 clearance later that year. 

In June 2020, Abiomed appointed Charles A. Simonton, MD, as Vice President and Chief Medical Officer. Also in 2020, the FDA granted Emergency Use Authorization for the Impella heart pump to stabilize Covid-19 patients following the removal of pulmonary blood clots, as well as the use of the Impella in combination with the Breethe extracorporeal membrane oxygenation system, which pumps more oxygen into the bloodstream. In February and April 2021, Abiomed appointed neurosurgeon Myron Rolle and cardiologist Paula Johnson to the Board of Directors. Drs. Rolle and Johnson will serve on the Governance and Nominating Committee and Regulatory and Compliance Committee of the board. 

In June 2021, Abiomed acquired preCARDIA, a catheter developer whose system allows for a less-invasive option when treating acutely decompensated heart failure patients. In November 2022, Abiomed announced that it would be acquired by Johnson and Johnson in a $16.6 billion deal.

“Recovering hearts and savings lives is the founding principle and guiding compass of our organisation.”

"We are committed to providing patients and health care providers with the highest quality devices and optimal cost-effective solutions."