Boston Scientific cuts 2,300 jobs

Boston Scientific Corp., facing sluggish sales in two key areas, said today it will eliminate 2,300 jobs, or 8 percent of its worldwide workforce, and will go ahead with plans to sell some of its smaller divisions to further reduce expenses.

The Natick medical device maker, the state's third largest life sciences company with a market value of $21 billion, did not say where the cuts will be made. Only 2,400 of the company's 28,000 workers are based in Massachusetts, suggesting that only a fraction of the layoffs will likely be local. If the company cut 8 percent of the jobs in the state, it would work out to 192 jobs.

The cuts come at a time when Boston Scientific is facing anemic sales for its two main businesses, drug-coated stents and defibrillators. On Friday, the company is expected to report third-quarter revenue of $2.06 billion, up just 1 percent from the same quarter a year ago.

The market for drug-coated stents has wilted since several medical studies raises questions about their safety and benefits, prompting some doctors to rely on cheaper, bare metal stents instead or avoid inserting stents altogether. Boston Scientific and Johnson & Johnson are the only two companies with United States approval to sell stents, tiny mesh tubes used to prop open heart arteries, with special medicine coatings designed to keep arteries from narrowing.

Despite the fact that more recent studies on the stents have been more positive, the market has continued to shrink. On Tuesday, Johnson & Johnson reported its sales for drug-coated stent sales fell 44 percent, while its market share remained steady, implying Boston Scientific will suffer a similar decline. In addition, the company could soon face additional competition from Abbott Laboratories and Medtronic Inc., which are both seeking approval for their own versions of drug-coated stents, while Boston Scientific has been blocked from introducing a new model until at least next year, while it tries to addresses concerns in a warning letter from the Food and Drug Administration.

At the same time, Boston Scientific's other main business, implantable defibrillators designed to help regulate the heart, has been hurt by a series of industry recalls, making doctors and patients reconsider whether to use them. Boston Scientific acquired the cardiac rhythm management business, which includes defibrillators and related products, when it bought Guidant last year.

The company's endosurgery unit in Marlborough has been one of the few bright spots in the company's performance, increasing 11 percent in the second quarter.

Boston Scientific has 2,400 employees in Massachusetts, including nearly 1,000 at its corporate headquarters and close to another 1,000 in Marlborough. Another 500 work at the company's distribution center in Quincy.
(By Todd Wallack, Globe staff)