HeartPort: Still Beating

Once one of the highest-flying medical device companies of the 1990s, the last couple of years have not been easy for minimally-invasive cardiac surgery company, HeartPort Inc. The company developed an innovative approach to minimally-invasive bypass and heart valve surgery, one that incorporated the use of CPB (coronary-pulmonary bypass) in a closed procedure on the theory that CPB is the gold standard in open procedures. The problem is, no one wanted it. (Most surgeons would like to eliminate CPB from open procedures, if possible.) As adoption rates of its technology lagged far behind the company's projections, HeartPort became a fading star. But company officials insist HeartPort's fortunes are turning around.