"For heart patients awaiting transplants, Thoratec's HeartMate...

"For heart patients awaiting transplants, Thoratec's HeartMate ventricular assist pumps are a literal lifesaver, helping one chamber of the heart pump enough blood until a donor is found. The big buzz now is that patients too ill for transplants have a significantly higher chance of long-term survival (without suffering damaging strokes) when they use Thoratec's HeartMate II rather than the older HeartMate XVE. The company is waiting for FDA approval for this new usage, and investors are anticipating that it will be received. In the meantime, Thoratec has replaced Dun & Bradstreet in the S&P MidCap 400 Index and UBS has picked up coverage of its stock. Everything seems to be breaking Thoratec's way."