Kratisto Investing

Of all the things that have changed in the medical device world in the time I've followed it professionally, the improvement in the quality of care for ischemic stroke patients may be one of the notable. The field has moved from "I'm sorry, but there's nothing we can do" to the introduction of tPA (which gave patients an almost 50/50 chance if they got to the hospital early enough) and now on to stent retrievers and aspiration systems that can boost those long-term survival (with a high quality of life) to more than 50/50 as far as 24 hours away from the onset of the stroke. Even so, these newer mechanical approaches are still not used nearly as often as they should be, and that represents a key growth opportunity for mid-cap med-tech Penumbra (PEN).

Penumbra is the leader in aspiration-based thrombectomy (A Direct Aspiration First Pass Technique, or ADAPT), an emerging alternative that is faster and cheaper than stent retriever systems, but with no observable compromise in efficacy. Penumbra is almost certain to face significant competition from Medtronic (MDT), Stryker (SYK), Johnson & Johnson (JNJ), and others, but with overall market penetration below 20% and opportunities in other fields like peripheral thrombectomy, embolization, and coronary thrombectomy, there are significant revenue opportunities for Penumbra.

Read the full article here:
Penumbra: Great Growth From A Better Mousetrap In Stroke Care