Boston Scientific reported that electrophysiology sales grew 172% in Q4 2024, driven by an uptake of its Farapulse pulsed field ablation (PFA) system.
Revealing its Q4 and full-year results, the US company reported that revenue for Farapulse raced past $1bn in 2024, less than a year after it was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
Global net sales for the electrophysiology segment of the company’s MedSurg business topped $649m for the quarter, representing organic growth of 172% compared to the same period in 2023. Electrophysiology sales reached $1.9bn for the full 2024 year, up 139% compared to the prior year.
During an earnings call, Boston Scientific’s chief financial officer Daniel Brennan said: “We expect the atrial fibrillation market to continue to rapidly convert to PFA in 2025 and beyond driven by Farapulse. Exceptional fourth-quarter sales performance was driven by Farapulse uptake in the US and Europe, as a result of a very strong safety profile, ease of use, and procedural efficiency, as well as our launches in both Japan and China.”
Boston Scientific won FDA approval for Farapulse in January 2024, indicated for the treatment of atrial fibrillation (AFib). Boston Scientific was narrowly beaten to market by Medtronic’s PulseSelect, which became the first approved PFA device for AFib in the US. However, there has been a stronger physician preference for Farapulse, leading to Boston Scientific taking a larger market share of the PFA market.
Over the last year, the PFA market has grown to be worth more than $500m, according to analysis by GlobalData.
Boston Scientific stated that over 200,000 patients have now been treated with the Farapulse device. The revenue made by the system since its launch in the US confirms the validity of the $295m deal on fully acquiring the technology in 2021.
Boston Scientific’s CEO Michael Mahoney said during the earnings call: “I think the numbers are pretty stand out [for Farapulse]. We’re excited about our competitive position with FerraPulse in 2025. It is a bit unclear as to the competitive landscape in 2025 but we put that aside and we push every day to invest in our commercial execution, our R&D, and we want to become the clear leader as we are now in PFA, as PFA is really transforming this market.”
Industry treatment trends for AFib, a type of heart arrhythmia, are moving towards PFA as physicians increasingly use the technology due to its efficacy and safety. PFA is a catheter-based approach to treat AFib that uses short high-voltage pulses to selectively target cardiac tissue. Other cardiac ablation techniques, such as thermal and cryo-based approaches, create small scars to block AFib’s irregular heartbeats.
Boston Scientific has been busy consolidating its PFA portfolio, gaining FDA approval last October for a Farawave Nav, an ablation catheter that provides magnetic navigation capabilities. The FDA also cleared the company’s Faraview visualisation software. Boston Scientific has said the technologies are exclusively compatible with the company’s other mapping offerings. In November 2024, Boston Scientific acquired diagnostic mapping company Cortex, though the financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
In addition to its MedSurg sales success, Boston Scientific reported strong bottom-line results for 2024. Net sales were $16.7bn for the company, up 16.4% on an organic basis compared to 2023 and beating the guidance range previously issued. The company estimates net sales growth for 2025 over the previous year to be in a range of around 12.5% to 14.5% on a reported basis.
