Can Thoratec (NASDAQ:THOR) Answer HVAD Competition Challenges?

With Thoratec (NASDAQ:THOR) losing market share in Europe from HeartWare’s (Nasdaq:HTWR) HVAD, and BTT about to get approval in the U.S. for HVAD, Thoratec is under extreme pressure to respond effectively to the challenges.

Wedbush says, "We expect the coming year to prove challenging for THOR due to (1) continued market share erosion in Europe from HeartWare’s (HTWR)(OUTPERFORM) HVAD; (2) looming approval of the HVAD in the US for BTT; and (3) uncertainty regarding THOR’s own sales ramp in the market for Destination Therapy. We expect these issues to create a lingering overhang of negative sentiment which will likely effect THOR’s share price throughout 2011. Although we remain optimistic about the DT market overall (which we expect THOR to maintain exclusivity until early 2015) and believe that THOR’s longer-term pipeline (as described at an investor conference yesterday) still holds much promise, we believe the lack of potential positive catalysts in the next 12 months will hinder significant upside in the stock."

Wedbush downgraded Thoratec (THOR) from "Outperform" to "Neutral." Thoretic closed Wednesday at $29.01, losing $2.09, or 6.72 percent. Wedbush lowered their price target on them from $35 to $33.