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Medtronic is an Irish medical device company headquartered in Dublin, Ireland.〔〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Form S-4 )〕〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Press Release )〕 The operational headquarters is centered in Fridley, Minnesota, USA.〔〔(Press release: Medtronic Completes Acquisition of Covidien ) 26 January 2015〕 Medtronic is the world's largest standalone medical technology development company.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Top 40 Medical Device Companies )〕 In 2015, at the time of its acquisition of Covidien, Medtronic's market cap was about $100 billion while the market cap for CRHF, Ireland’s largest indigenous business, was $18.4 billion.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Medtronic becomes Ireland’s largest business )〕 Medtronic operates in more than 140 countries.〔 The company employs over 80,000 people and has more than 53,000 patents.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Facts and Statistics - Medtronic )〕 == History == Medtronic was founded in 1949 in northeast Minneapolis by Earl Bakken and his brother-in-law Palmer Hermundslie as a medical equipment repair shop.〔(【引用サイトリンク】url=http://www.medtronic.com/about-us/company-profile/medtronic-history/index.htm )〕 Through their repair business, Bakken came to know Dr. C. Walton Lillehei, a doctor in the field of heart surgery then at the University of Minnesota Medical School. The deficiencies of such pacemakers were made painfully obvious following a power outage over Halloween in 1957 which affected large sections of Minnesota and western Wisconsin. As a direct result of this blackout, a pacemaker-dependent pediatric patient of Lillehei died. The next day, Lillehei spoke with Bakken about developing some form of battery-powered pacemaker. Stemming from this need, Bakken modified a design for a transistorized metronome to create the first battery-powered external artificial pacemaker. The company expanded through the 1950s, mostly selling equipment built by other companies, but also developing some custom devices. Bakken built a small transistorized pacemaker that could be strapped to the body and powered by batteries. Work into this new field continued, producing an implantable pacemaker in 1960. It built a headquarters in the Minneapolis suburb of St. Anthony in 1960〔Sam Black, (Old Medtronic headquarters is sold to Islamic group ), ''Minneapolis / St. Paul Business Journal'', 6 September 2012, accessed 14 March 2013.〕 and moved to Fridley in the 1970s. Medtronic's main competitors in the cardiac rhythm field include Boston Scientific and St. Jude Medical. In 1998, Medtronic acquired Physio-Control for $538 million. In 2005, 2008, and 2010 Medtronic failed to reach an agreement with PETA to improve animal welfare standards in the company’s laboratories in the United States and China after critics alleged that they were engaged in the unethical treatment of animals. In 2005, PETA attempted to stop five specific animal experiments which they deemed "crude and cruel". In 2008, PETA protested the outsourcing of animal testing to counties with lax animal welfare laws such as China. In 2010, PETA attempted to stop Medtronic's reported use of live animals in testing and training, a practice which PETA said had been halted by rival companies. In response Medtronic conducted a feasibility study to see whether banning the use of live animals was practical. This study concluded that it was not and Medtronic continues to use live animals for testing and training, but has said that they will look for alternatives in the future. In each case PETA was unsuccessful in reaching an agreement to reduce animal cruelty in Medtronic's research practices. As a result, PETA withdrew its shareholder resolution compelling the company to address animal welfare issues. After 2008 and the global financial crisis, Medtronic stock value dropped dramatically. Despite sales and margin well above the average of most industries, with steady revenue growth since 2008 and a gross margin above 60%, Medtronic initiated a series of restructurings, in 2008, 2009, 2010, and 2011, including Physio-Control's spin-off for $487 million,〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Physio-Control Breaks Away From Medtronic, Via $487M Acquisition by Bain Capital )〕 and the stock price now approaches pre-recession values. In May 2014, Medtronic agreed to pay over $1 billion to settle patent litigation with Edwards lifesciences after years of protracted legal battles. In June 2014, Medtronic announced its acquisition of Covidien, PLC of Ireland for $42.9 billion in cash and stock. This was the largest acquisition in its history. Following the acquisition, Medtronic ceased to be a Minnesota-based company, moving its headquarters to low-tax Ireland, allowing it to avoid taxation on more than $14 billion held overseas.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Medtronic」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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