NMT Medical revises outlook

NMT Medical Inc., a Boston medical technology company, today lowered its revenue guidance for the third quarter and full year 2008.

For the three month period ending Sept. 30, NMT said it now expects to report revenues of about $4.1 million, compared with an Aug. 5 estimate for third quarter revenue to be in the range of $4.8 million to $5.2 million.

For the full year 2008, the company said it currently expects total revenue in the range of $18 million to $19 million. On Aug. 5, NMT provided revenue guidance for the full year of approximately $19 million to $20 million.

(The image at right, taken from the company's website, shows a heart defect that NMT technology seeks to correct.)

"Although our revenues in the third quarter are below our expectations, we remain encouraged about the growth potential of our implant technologies," president and chief executive John E. Ahern said in a statement. "We believe we are expanding our commercial market share, but several patent foramen ovale (PFO) clinical trials are in progress in Europe, and we are competing for the same patient subset. In addition, the frequency of percutaneous valve repair procedures continues to dominate the available cath-lab time."

NMT says it designs, develops, manufactures, and markets proprietary implant technologies that allow interventional cardiologists to treat structural heart disease through minimally invasive, catheter-based procedures. NMT added that it is currently investigating the potential connection between a common heart defect that allows a right to left shunt or flow of blood through a defect like a patent foramen ovale, or PFO.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)