Kensey Nash says it will exit embolic protection markets

By Jennifer Lanning Drey

Portland, Ore., July 10 - Kensey Nash Corp.'s board of directors approved a management plan to discontinue all activities on its embolic protection platform for an estimated ongoing annual savings of $3.6 million, the company announced Tuesday.

The strategic decision was made to reduce costs and to allow the company's sales force to focus on its thrombectomy and chronic total occlusion platforms, according to a company news release.

"The cost savings that we will immediately recognize with this decision to exit embolic protection, we feel, certainly justified that action," Joseph Kaufmann, chief executive officer of Kensey Nash, said during a company conference call held Tuesday.

As previously reported, Kensey Nash shareholder Admiral Advisors, LLC sent a letter to the company on July 2 suggesting it focus on its biomaterials business, rather than the endovascular business, which contains the embolic protection platform.

With the discontinuation of the embolic protection platform, Kensey Nash's endovascular business will focus solely on the ThromCat and the QuickCat products, which Kaufmann said the company believes will ultimately be successful in the marketplace.

"The combination of these products, we believe, will allow us the opportunity to be successful in endovascular and provide a significant opportunity for growth in this space," Kaufmann said.

"That being said, we also recognize that as a company our obligation is to the shareholders and the employees, which we take very seriously, and we will always continue to be looking at all of our business segments as we move forward to make sure that we're executing our strategy and our plan."

Kaufmann said the company's primary reasons for discontinuing the embolic protection platform included negative market dynamics, a declining patient population for some of its products, ongoing market resistance to balloon technology and set backs in reimbursement.

Kensey Nash is an Exton, Pa., medical technology company.

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