NEW YORK, NY--(Marketwire - May 25, 2012) - A recent plan to speed up reviews of new drugs and medical devices will look to benefit companies in the Medical Devices Industry. "To get lifesaving drugs and devices to the patients that need them as quickly as possible, Congress must give the Food and Drug Administration the tools it needs to review and approve these products," Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid stated on the Senate floor. Five Star Equities examines the outlook for companies in the Medical Devices Industry and provides equity research on Medtronic, Inc. (NYSE: [ MDT ]) and St. Jude Medical, Inc. (NYSE: [ STJ ]).

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A $6.4 billion plan to speed up FDA reviews of new drugs and medical devices is now a step closer to becoming law as it has now been moved to the Senate. The Senate was expected to vote earlier this week on roughly $2 billion in new fees that drug and medical device companies will pay to regulators over the next 5 years for review of their products according to a recent Bloomberg article. Generic-drug companies, who were previously exempt from such fees, make up $1.56 billion. Fees for brand-name drug companies over the five-year period will increase 6 percent to $4.1 billion, and more than double for device makers to 609 million, according to the Congressional Budget Office's cost estimate.

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Medtronic recently announced financial results for its fourth quarter and fiscal year ended April 27, 2012. The company reported worldwide fourth quarter revenue of $4.297 billion, compared to the $4.167 billion reported in the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2011, an increase of 4 percent.

St. Jude Medical, a global medical device company, rebently announced U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval of its Ellipse implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD). Designed with feedback from more than 200 physicians from around the world, the Ellipse ICD offers physicians unique design advancements, resulting in the industry's smallest high-energy ICD.

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