July 30, 2009 9:39 AM EDTWedbush Morgan upgrades HeartWare...

July 30, 2009 9:39 AM EDT

Wedbush Morgan upgrades HeartWare Int'l (Nasdaq: HTWR) to Outperform. Price target raised $3 to $31.

Wedbush analyst says, "HTWR provided an update on its 50 patient international trial, with extraordinary results. Not only were 90% of patients alive at 180 days, but survival remained at an astounding 84% at 2 years, which bodes extremely well for the large application of destination therapy. Moreover, only 14% of patients were transplanted by 180 days. Also, no pump failures or drive-line cable fractures were reported. Although these data involve relatively small numbers, they are certainly unsurpassed and appear significantly better than those with other devices...We are uncertain whether the future will bring in another bidder for HeartWare, or instead the company will develop the HVAD on its own. In either case, we believe that HTWR has a very bright future and are upgrading the company to OUTPERFORM. Our only concerns at the moment are HTWR’s relatively light balance sheet as well as our expectation for near-term volatility. However, with the recent HVAD data in hand, we do not doubt that HTWR can raise necessary funds in this market."

"Theoretically, Thoratec (Nasdaq: THOR) and HTWR could proceed with the merger and face a lawsuit in Federal Court by the FTC. However, we believe that this is unlikely. Also possible is a compromise with the FTC, involving THOR taking some form of remedial steps. However, since such remedial steps typically take the form of a divestiture, and we do not believe that THOR would allow either the HeartMate II or the HVAD to be divested, we do not believe that this is likely either."

To see more analyst ratings on HTWR Click Here.

HeartWare International, Inc., a medical device company, focuses on developing and commercializing a family of blood pumps that are surgically implanted to help augment blood circulation in patients suffering from chronic and end-stage heart failure.