CardieX lifts FY21 sales growth target on the back of strong March quarter

CardieX Ltd (ASX:CDX) has lifted its sales growth guidance for the 2021 financial year by 40% following a successful March quarter. A global med-tech company focused on hypertension, cardiovascular disease and other vascular health disorders, CardieX saw continued sales growth in the penultimate FY21 quarter. Excluding royalties, sales of its medical devices grew 30% year-on-year on a constant currency basis, with key new team members and market growth driving the increased sales targets. Two-pronged strategy CardieX CEO and managing director Craig Cooper said the company was investing in both med-tech products and consumer wearable devices, in order to diversify its product offering and create value for shareholders. “Ultimately what we will end up with under the CardieX holding company will be two separate but intertwined operating divisions,” he said. “ATCOR will continue our traditional business of medical devices - a brand vested in the history of its technology and 25 years of advanced cardiovascular solutions for the medical and clinical market. “Separately, our wearable and consumer strategy will be incorporated under a new consumer-focused brand that we will unveil when the brand strategy exercise is complete - in late April/early May. “I am personally very excited about this evolution of the company and look forward to presenting it to shareholders when completed. “I know you will share my mission and vision of making sure that all our new products not only provide unique and valuable health solutions for patients and consumers alike, but also have the capacity to have a significant impact on the global healthcare market.” ATCOR gaining traction CardieX’s ATCOR division, which develops and markets medical technologies that measure patient risk for hypertension, cardiovascular disease and other related vascular disorders, had been performing strongly, Cooper said, hence the reason for the lift in sales targets. “Based on the strong growth we are seeing in all market segments, and with the addition of new devices, our internal sales target for FY22 is for a significant increase over our anticipated results for FY21, which will also result in a return to profitability for the company by 2022 calendar year-end,” he said. Sales of the XCEL and Oscar 2 devices are being sold in the research, clinical trial, pharma and specialist clinician markets, and form part of five global trials CardieX is supporting with the likes of AstraZeneca and Bayer, as well as being the preferred device supplier for the world’s largest study on hypertension and COVID-19 - the CARTESIAN Study - which aims to explore the immediate and long-term vascular consequences of COVID-19. The company is now looking to expand its advocacy and reimbursement coverage strategy to target significant new physician sales markets in gestational hypertension, renal disease, cognitive health and heart failure. On the consumer side CardieX is also hard at work developing devices for consumers, with three new devices in various stages of development and production. Of particular interest is Pulse, a world-first dual blood pressure monitor incorporating our patented central blood pressure technology and multiple new, patent-pending, heart-health parameters, based on ATCOR’s FDA-cleared SphygmoCor® technology. The product launch of the ATCOR Pulse device is anticipated for late Q2/FY22. Meanwhile, the company is also developing a smartwatch with its patented technology in collaboration with Mobvoi, expected to launch early Q3/FY22, and the new Arty Band, the next evolution of its device strategy with a consumer wearable that provides advanced health diagnostics to consumers, including “cuffless” blood pressure monitoring. - Daniel Paproth