Heartware International may be an unintended beneficiary of the proposed mega-merger between Abbott Laboratories and St. Jude Medical Inc., according to at least one analyst. Jason Mills, of Canaccord Genuity Inc., said in a research note the deal is positive for Heartware because it creates a more level playing field in the left ventricular assist device (LVAD) market and it will make Heartware a more attractive asset for other players looking to compete against the combined Abbott-St. Jude entity across the cardiovascular space.

In an economy driven by global competition, counterfeits and theft of trade secrets remain major hazards for U.S. drug and device companies, handing them an uneven playing field in some parts of the world. When it comes to counterfeits, most of the problems can be traced to China, which the U.S. Trade Representative's (USTR) 2016 Special 301 Report refers to as "the manufacturing hub of counterfeit products." Together with Hong Kong, India and Singapore, China accounted for 97 percent of all counterfeit drugs seized at the U.S. border last year.