St. Jude Medical

Early history St. Jude Medical was founded in 1976 to further develop bi-leaflet artificial heart valves, which were originally created in 1972 at the University of Minnesota. Shortly after his appointment as St. Jude Medical CEO, Rees directed the company to begin development of its own carbon coating. The St. Jude Medical board reassigned Rees in late 1984 after the legal dispute continued. In 1985, Lawrence Lehmkuhl replaced Rees as president and CEO of St. Jude Medical. Lehmkuhl had previously served as a division president at American Hospital Supply Corporation. The two companies also entered into an agreement that allowed St. Jude Medical to continue developing and producing limited quantities of its own carbon coating. 1990s The company established its International Division, located in Brussels, Belgium, in 1990. In April 1991, St. Jude Medical engaged in a joint venture with Hancock Jaffe Laboratories to create Heart Valve Company. The joint venture was formed to design and market new tissue heart valves for the American market. Lehmkuhl, who had presided over a ninefold increase in annual sales during his tenure as CEO, was named chairman of the St. Jude Medical board. Matricaria pushed for increasing diversification and expanded St. Jude Medical's acquisition hunt. At the time of its acquisition by St. Jude Medical, Pacesetter was the second largest pacemaker manufacturer worldwide. Daig Corporation manufactured cardiac catheters for diagnostic and therapeutic uses. In 1997, St. Jude Medical acquired Ventritex, a Sunnyvale, California-based manufacturer of implantable cardioverter-defibrillators for $352 million. At the time of its acquisition, Ventritex was the third-largest manufacturer of defibrillators. Angio-Seal manufactured collagen-based plugs to close arterial holes made during arterial catheter procedures. He was replaced by Terry Shepherd, who had served as president of St. Jude Medical's heart valve business since 1994. The company's stock had increased 277% during his tenure as CEO. Endocardial Solutions manufactured diagnostic and therapeutic devices used to treat atrial fibrillation. At the time of its acquisition, Advanced Neuromodulation Systems was the second-largest supplier of devices that use electrotherapy to treat chronic pain and nerve disorders. In 2008, St. Jude Medical acquired MediGuide, an Israeli company that developed technology that uses tiny sensors to locate medical devices inside of a patient's body and increase the amount of information available to a doctor during medical procedures. 2010s St. Jude Medical acquired AGA Medical for $1.3 billion in October 2010. In 2010 the company also acquired LightLab Imaging, a company that developed optical coherence tomography technology that helps doctors treat heart disease. In 2010, St. Jude Medical invested in an option to acquire CardioMEMS Inc., a medical device company that developed a wireless sensing and communication technology to monitor pulmonary artery pressure (PAP) in heart failure patients. CardioMEMS Inc. was acquired by St. Jude Medical in May 2014. In August 2012, St. Jude Medical reorganized its business operations. The company folded its four product divisions into two operating units: the implantable electronic systems division; and the cardiovascular and ablation technologies division. St. Jude Medical paid $330 million for the company. In May 2015, the company completed the acquisition of Spinal Modulation, developer of the Axium Neurostimulator System. St. Jude Medical acquired Nanostim Inc., a Sunnyvale, California-based privately owned developer of miniaturized, leadless pacemakers, for $123.5 million in October 2013. The acquisition followed the approval of Nanostim's leadless pacemaker by the European Union. St. Jude Medical continued the restructuring it started in 2014 with its consolidation of the company's two operating units—the implantable electronic systems and the cardiovascular and ablation technologies units—into single research and development division. The company also consolidated its worldwide manufacturing and supply chain operations into a second division. The acquisition was completed in October 2015. In September 2015, St. Jude Medical announced that Daniel Starks would retire as chairman, president, and chief executive officer. On January 1, 2016, Michael T. Rousseau succeeded Starks as president, CEO and a member of the St. Jude Medical Board of Directors. Starks would remain executive chairman of the board of directors. In late April 2016, Abbott Laboratories announced it would acquire St. Jude Medical for $25 billion ($46.75 in cash & 0.8708 shares of Abbott common stock, equating to an approximate value of $85 per share). On January 5, 2017, Abbott announced that it had completed its $25 billion acquisition of St. Jude Medical. Acquisition history The following is an illustration of the company's major mergers and acquisitions and historical predecessors (this is not a comprehensive list): }} ==Operations==

St. Jude Medical manufactures implantable cardioverter-defibrillators (ICD); pacemakers; electrophysiology catheters; vascular closure products; cardiac mapping and visualization systems; optical coherence tomography (OCT) imaging systems; structural heart repair products; and neurostimulation devices. St. Jude Medical also operates six technology centers located in Brussels, Belgium, Beijing, China, Tokyo, Japan, Austin, Texas, St. Paul, Minnesota and Sylmar, California. These centers offer training to physicians and allow them to simulate patient procedures using St. Jude Medical devices and technologies. ==Products==

The company also manufactures implantable cardioverter-defibrillators (ICDs) and implanted cardiac resynchronization devices (CRT-Ds). The ICDs and CRT-Ds use quadripolar lead technology, which utilizes four electrodes on a single lead to pace multiple locations on the left side of the heart. In 2013, the company began marketing the Ilumen Optis device, which is a diagnostic and assessment tool for patients with coronary artery disease. The device uses fractional flow reserve for measuring intra-arterial pressure and optical coherence tomography technology, which allows doctors to visually examine inside a patient's arteries. ==Technology==

MediGuide St. Jude Medical produces MediGuide, a cardiac navigation and visualization technology that provides real-time fluoroscopic images. The system also gives doctors the ability to locate devices that are implanted with MediGuide-enabled sensors. Nanostim In October 2013, the company acquired and began developing Nanostim leadless pacemakers. Nanostim technology consists of a miniaturized pacemaker implanted by a percutaneous, catheter-based procedure and placed into the heart. They are designed without the requirement for a lead, the thin wires inserted through a vein which connect the generator to the heart, or surgical pocket. CardioMEMS In June 2014, St. Jude Medical acquired and began developing CardioMEMS HF System, a wireless pulmonary artery pressure (PAP) monitoring technology. The wireless monitoring technology is used to assess cardiac performance via measurement of PAP and can be placed into the pulmonary artery. ==Controversies==

In December 2010, St. Jude Medical voluntarily stopped selling its Riata and Riata ST line of defibrillator leads over concerns that the leads were susceptible to insulation abrasion. The Food and Drug Administration issued a recall of the leads in November 2011. In May 2013, Population Health Research Institute (PHRI), an academic health science research institute, conducted an independent analysis of data received from ongoing prospective registries that monitor the performance of the Durata and Riata ST ICD leads. The results of the analysis found that the insulated leads had a 99.8 percent rate of freedom from all-cause insulation abrasion at 5 years. The letter was sent following inspections of the plant in September and October 2012. In 2014 a security vulnerability in St. Jude's pacemakers was reported by MedSec Holdings Ltd and confirmed by the FDA. == References ==