Stereotaxis Reports Success With Cardiac Surgical System

By Rachel Melcer, St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Jan. 13–Stereotaxis Inc. said Thursday that three hospitals have successfully used its advanced cardiac surgical system, along with a recently approved catheter, to treat cardiac arrhythmias.

The procedures were completed just two weeks after the Food and Drug Administration cleared for use an ablation catheter co-developed by Stereotaxis and Bioscience Webster Inc., a unit of Johnson & Johnson. A delay in that approval had slowed Stereotaxis’ sales.

Chief Financial Officer Jim Stolze said St. Louis-based Stereotaxis will train physicians and assist in the use of this catheter at 30 hospitals in the U.S. that have installed the company’s Niobe system. It will use those hospitals as referral sites for potential customers in an effort to boost sales.

“This will take some gestation period” before adding to revenue, he said.

Fifteen successful procedures were completed at Cleveland Clinic, Baptist Memorial Hospital-Memphis, Tenn., and St. Elizabeth’s Medical Center of Boston. They marked the first use of Niobe in endocardial ablation treatments — a type of procedure performed more than 400,000 times a year globally, according to Stereotaxis estimates.

In trading Thursday, shares of Stereotaxis gained 80 cents, or 8.4 percent, to close at $10.27. They are up 19.3 percent this year and are approaching their 52-week high of $10.70.

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