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Boston Scientific, a manufacturer of medical devices, confirmed that the discontinuation of a product will see it cut jobs in Galway.
Boston Scientific has confirmed that a number of its employees based in Galway will be let go. While it did not specify the number of employees affected, RTÉ has reported it will be somewhere in the region of 30 jobs.
The medical device manufacturer said that the decision will hopefully have a “minimal impact” on its Galway office. In addition to the reported redundancies, a number of other employees are expected to be offered alternative roles in Galway. The company employs between 4,500 and 5,000 people in Ireland, of which 4,000 are based in Galway.
The decision came after Boston Scientific announced that it would be recalling and discontinuing its Lotus Edge aortic valve system “due to complexities associated with the product delivery system”. It added that the voluntary recall is related solely to the delivery system, and there is no safety issue for those who currently have the Lotus Edge valve implant.
New focus
In a statement, the company said that given the additional time and investment required to develop and reintroduce an enhanced delivery system, it has chosen to retire the entire Lotus product platform immediately.
The company’s chair and CEO, Mike Mahoney, added: “The complexity of the delivery system, manufacturing challenges, the continued need for further technical enhancements, and current market adoption rates led us to the difficult decision to stop investing in the Lotus Edge platform.
“We will instead focus our resources and efforts on our Acurate Neo2 aortic valve system, Sentinel cerebral embolic protection system and other high -growth areas across our portfolio.”
The decision to cease production of the implant has also impacted workers based in sites in the US and Malaysia. Boston Scientific said it will also likely result in pre-tax costs of between $225m and $300m. Between $100m and $150m of these charges will impact the company’s adjusted earnings for Q4 2020.
