By the numbers
Medtech Q2 sales: $8.54 billion
7.3% growth year over year
Electrophysiology sales: $1.47 billion
11% growth year over year
Cardiovascular sales: $2.31 billion
23.5% growth year over year
Johnson & Johnson’s electrophysiology unit returned to growth in the second quarter as rivals race to capture the fast-growing pulsed field ablation market.
Tim Schmid, J&J’s worldwide chairman for medtech, told investors Wednesday morning that the rebound is attributed to continued adoption of the company’s Varipulse PFA platform, which has now completed more than 10,000 cases globally.
The use of Varipulse has expanded in all commercial regions, Schmid said during an earnings call, and the system has started cases in new markets, including China and Australia.
J&J’s electrophysiology unit grew by 11% year over year to $1.47 billion in the second quarter, following a nearly 2% year-over-year decline in the prior quarter.
J&J’s growth still trails that of rival Boston Scientific, which has seen its electrophysiology unit balloon by triple digits since launching its Farapulse PFA system early last year. Medtronic has also reported strong success for its PFA offerings.
In January, J&J paused its initial launch of Varipulse due to safety concerns about four neurovascular events. Sales resumed in February; however, analysts wrote that the safety concerns could still hamper the launch.
Despite the pause and trailing Boston Scientific and Medtronic to market in PFA, Schmid remained confident that J&J could do well in the electrophysiology space.
“Given that we created the [electrophysiology] category, for us, this one is very personal,” Schmid said. “And while I know that several analysts were quick to write us off earlier this year, we continue to remain very confident in our ability to retain our global market leadership position over the long term.”
Schmid said that the electrophysiology unit had sequential growth of more than 9% over the first quarter, as well as acceleration within the second quarter. The executive touted the company’s next-generation catheters as one reason to remain confident amid the growing PFA race.
“[Electrophysiology] is currently — I think it’s fair to say — probably the most exciting category in medtech,” Schimd said. “And let me be clear: We are not rolling over.”
Tariffs & Ottava
CFO Joseph Wolk, on the call, said the company now expects a tariff charge for the year of approximately $200 million, exclusively related to the company’s medtech business, half of what was forecast on the company’s first-quarter earnings call in April.
The following month, Wolk indicated during an investor event that the company would be halving its expected tariff hit. At the same event, Boston Scientific said it was planning to revise its expectations as well. Boston Scientific forecast a $200 million charge in April during a first-quarter earnings call.
Meanwhile, J&J plans to file a de novo application for its Ottava soft tissue surgical robot to the Food and Drug Administration in the first quarter of 2026. The system, which J&J hopes will capture a share of a soft tissue market dominated by Intuitive Surgical, began cases for its clinical trial in April.
The system received an investigational device exemption from the FDA late last year.
