Medtronic CEO: Two Patients Per Second Benefit From Our Technologies

The acquisition of Covidien has expanded the global reach and R&D capabilities of medical device maker Medtronic, chairman and CEO Omar Ishrak writes in the company's 2015 Integrated Performance Report, entitled "Further, Together."

"That’s a key reason we acquired Covidien — to expand our breadth to treat more people for more diseases, no matter where they are located, more efficiently than ever before," Ishrak writes in the report. "We are also pleased that with Covidien joining the Medtronic family that now two patients per second benefit from Medtronic therapies. This is and has always been one of our most important metrics — how many lives we impact around the world."

Medtronic acquired Covidien for $42.9 billion in 2014 and moved its tax domicile to Ireland. The combined company, Medtronic plc, now has the scale and reach needed to compete with industry leader Johnson & Johnson (J&J). Besides the Covidien buy — which was the largest acquisition in Medtronic's history — the company has been quite active in other M&A deals since 2014, having acquired a slew of smaller, niche companies. Given its growing size, at least one industry report says Medtronic will overtake J&J as the largest medical device maker in the world by 2020.

For fiscal year 2015, Medtronic reported $20.3 billion in revenue and $2.7 billion net earnings, and invested $1.64 billion, or 8.1 percent of total sales, in R&D — including new ways of addressing health problems in emerging markets like China and India, according to a press release. Again, Covidien would have a key role in realizing that objective.

"Medtronic’s integration with Covidien brings additional R&D capabilities to our business that will help us continue to increase our ability to meet patient needs across our markets," the company writes in the report.

In addition, the company reports that it has spent more than $47.6 million in employee training and development programs. After the Covidien merger, Medtronic plc now counts more than 85,000 employees in 160 countries around the world. Medtronic also says it has invested another $108 million in training more than 50,000 healthcare professionals, and $18.7 million in patient education campaigns globally. It also claims to have poured some $90 million in philanthropic efforts, including donating 1.9 percent of global pretax profits to various charitable causes, mostly in developing markets.

Medtronic also highlighted its quality and product safety program called "Quality Begins With Me.” The program was conceived in Covidien in 2011, and Medtronic says it plans to implement the program in full in all its combined businesses by the end of fiscal year 2016.

"We demonstrated our commitment to patient safety by exceeding regulatory requirements in our quality processes. Now we’re focused on combining the best practices of Covidien with Medtronic into a single system that delivers even greater quality assurance," states the report. "We design and manufacture medical devices that patients rely on daily, many of which are implanted inside their bodies. To protect patients’ health and ensure their peace of mind, it is imperative that these products, and the materials they are made of, are of the highest quality."

According to Medtronic, it has lowered its operational footprint ahead of 2020 targets, reducing carbon dioxide emissions and water use by 7 percent, and non-regulated waste by 5 percent.

The company also reiterated its legislative advocacy for Medicare coverage of Continuous Glucose Monitoring (CGM) and future artificial pancreas device systems, in collaboration with JDRF, the Endocrine Society, and the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists.