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Abbott Laboratories' MitraClip Outcome Positive for DMR

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Global health care major Abbott Laboratories (ABT - Free Report) recently presented one-year positive outcomes from the study of the MitraClip system in transcatheter mitral valve repair (TMVR) procedures in the U.S. MitraClip treats people with degenerative mitral regurgitation (DMR).

This serious condition, also known as leaky heart valve, is a dysfunction of the heart's mitral valve which regulates blood flow to the heart's main pumping chamber.
 
The study evaluated data from the Transcatheter Valve Therapy registry involving DMR patients. Following minimally-invasive implantation with MitraClip, most of the patients displayed significant improvement. In addition, MitraClip patients also remained free from heart failure re-hospitalization in the year after implantation.

For the last three months, Abbott has been trading above the Zacks categorized Large Cap Pharmaceuticals. In fact, the stock gained 18.2% during this period, compared with 7.7% for the industry. Following the colossal buyout of St. Jude Medical, the share price treaded higher. We expect the late-breaking data on MitraClip to complement Abbott’s structural heart business and further boost the share price.



DMR is a critical disease causing blood to flow backward and leak into the left atrium of the heart during the cardiac cycle. The condition can cause irregular heartbeats, stroke and heart failure. Patients often may not be eligible for the standard-of-care surgery because of advanced age, frailty or other complicating factors.

It is said that almost one in 10 people over the age of 75 years suffer moderate to severe MR, which is basically difficult to diagnose. Thus, Abbott's goal is to provide MitraClip therapy as a necessary solution for patients who have limited options. Per management, the consistency in data across multiple trials reinforces confidence regarding the effectiveness of MitraClip in DMR patients to lead fuller and longer lives.

The MitraClip System is currently available in the U.S. and in more than 50 countries.

As per a recent Allied Market Research market, the global structural heart devices market is expected to be worth $12.1 million by 2022, at a CAGR of 10.5%. Given the rising rate of cardiac ailments and a critical need to detect them, we believe Abbott is well positioned to cash in on the opportunities in this market.

Zacks Rank &Key Picks

Abbott currently has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). Better-ranked stocks in the medical product sector are Inogen, Inc. (INGN - Free Report) , Bovie Medical Corporation and ResMed, Inc. (RMD - Free Report) . Inogen sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) while the other two companies carry a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Inogen gained 83.2% in the last one year in comparison to the S&P 500’s gain of 15.9%. The company has a stellar four-quarter average earnings surprise of over 49.08%.

Bovie Medical surged 65% in the last one year in comparison to the S&P 500. It has a four-quarter average earnings surprise of 28.7%.

ResMed gained over 27.5% in the past one year, better than the S&P 500 mark. It also has a trailing average earnings surprise of 0.31%.

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