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LAC-H. SAINT PAUL PIONEER PRESS JP 2.32 UNCH_. JP 0.07 1 ST JP 0.13 JP 0:46 MAY 1996 SECTION P WEDNESDAY 6 PAGES p Ip from 1ph MEDICAL TECHNOLOGY T CPI55 rapt' gets FDA nod for littlest pacemaker JUDITH YATES BORGER STAFF WRITER t Less is more in the game of controlling `'P' surprise instead of a negative sur- ' hearts that beat too fast, and Arden prise." `j Hills-based CPI decidedly had more V CONTINUED FROM IC Surprise was the operative word Tuesday. from Medtronic's perspective. Guidant Corp., CPI's Indianapolis-based ic's device to. get hearts back on "The FDA said they want to be parent, pulled significantly ahead of its track. unpredictable, and they've certain- tospA competition with the news that it has "We thought 34 joules of im- ly proved it," said Reid. U.S. Food and Drug Administration pulse was necessary, but now the Meanwhile, competitor Plym- tlon k approval to sell the newest, smallest FDA has approved their 25 outh-based Angeion has stuck with implantable defibrillator in the world. joules," said Medtronic's Reid. A plans to continue work for several 's only "They've got the checkered flag on this joule is equivalent to 10 million months on a similar device, one," said Dick Reid, spokesman for Fri- ergs, a metric measure of energy. though it will be virtually the ventu), I dlev-based Medtronic, CPI's chief com- Wall Street registered its ap- same size and less effective than petitor. proval, raising Guidant's stock CPI's. While CPI's device stores The marketplace prizes the smallest from $2.871/'2 to $56 a share. Part electrical cardiogram information, T DAVID devices that control erratic hearts by of the nod came because analysts Angeion's does not. delivering an electrical jolt. While hadn't expected CPI to garner ap- However, a later generation STAFF\A Medtronic and CPI have seesawed over proval until September. that Angeion hopes to have ap- which can make the smallest device, CPI got earlier-than-expected proval to sell in the United States CPI's 59-cubic-centimeter device is clearance by filing an amended by 1999 will be markedly smaller markedly smaller than Medtronic's 83cc application for its Ventak Mini than CPI's, store the heart infor- device. HC, a slightly larger devicethat mation and last three or four The devices are implanted in the was also approved. The regulatory years longer than its competitors' shoulder, where there is usually little shortcut, which Guidant kept from models, according to Brenda Roth, room. A wire connects the box to the Wall Street, was a smart move, Angeion spokeswoman. heart to deliver a shock as needed. according to Piper Jaffray analyst Despite CPI's Tuesday win, About a half-inch smaller than a Arch C. Smith. Smith said it would be a mistake pager and weighing a quarter of a "If they had told people, they to rule Medtronic out of the race. pound, CPI's Ventak Mini II pulse gener- would have expected the approval "CPI has the advantage now, ator delivers less energy than Medtron- earlier rather than later," Smith but Medtronic is going to throw a said. "This left room for a positive lot of money at this," Smith said. CPI CONTINUED ON 2C lo.