Cardiovascular Device Update articles from March 2005

Cardiovascular Device Update archives from March 2005

Cardiovascular focus at tip-off healthcare investor gatherings.
March 1, 2005... CDU at the JP Morgan and Piper Jaffray healthcare conferences The cardiovascular sector was a focal point during healthcare investor conferences on both the East and West coasts of the U.S. in January; representatives of securities firms...

MRI, microbubbles, new compounds are eyed in stroke fight.
March 1, 2005... NEW ORLEANS -- While a festive atmosphere was building outside as the annual Mardi Gras events began, inside the huge Ernest Morial Convention Center, the approximately 3,000 attendees at the 30th annual International Stroke Conference, held...

CMS' expanded ICD coverage is good for patients and industry.(Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services; implantable cardioverter defibrillators)
March 1, 2005... WASHINGTON -- In what is most certainly a boon for patients and a boom for manufacturers of implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICDs), the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS; Baltimore) said in late January that it would expand...

Cleveland clinic in $17m NIH grant for heart attack research.(National Institutes of Health )
March 1, 2005... The Cleveland Clinic (Cleveland) has been awarded a five-year, $17.22 million grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH; Bethesda, Maryland) to advance its research into the science of heart attacks. The federal funding will...

WorldHeart to buy rotary pump maker.(Business Developments)
March 1, 2005... WorldHeart (Oakland, California reported in February that it plans to acquire all of the assets of MedQuest Products (Salt Lake City), thus bringing together in complementary fashion, heart support devices that beat and those that whir....

LeMaitre Vascular (Burlington, Massachusetts) reported acquiring Endomed (Phoenix), a maker of endovascular stent grafts for the minimally invasive treatment of thoracic and abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAA).(Acquisitions)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2005... LeMaitre Vascular (Burlington, Massachusetts) reported acquiring Endomed (Phoenix), a maker of endovascular stent grafts for the minimally invasive treatment of thoracic and abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAA). The acquisition was funded by debt...

Neich Medical (Hong Kong) reported that it has acquired Orbus Medical Technologies (Fort Lauderdale, Florida).(Acquisitions)
March 1, 2005... Neich Medical (Hong Kong) reported that it has acquired Orbus Medical Technologies (Fort Lauderdale, Florida). Both companies specialize in cardiovascular therapies. The acquisition is the outcome of a long, synergistic relationship, the...

St. Jude Medical (St. Paul, Minnesota) reported that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire the business of Velocimed (Maple Grove, Minnesota), a privately owned company that develops and manufactures specialty interventional cardiology devices.(Acquistions)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2005... St. Jude Medical (St. Paul, Minnesota) reported that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire the business of Velocimed (Maple Grove, Minnesota), a privately owned company that develops and manufactures specialty interventional...

Cypher follows Taxus to 1 million.(Business Developments)
March 1, 2005... The Cypher sirolimus-eluting coronary stent from Cordis (Miami Lakes, Florida), has now been implanted in more than 1 million cardiac patients around the world since its first market introduction in Europe in April 2002. The total number of...

Medinol, pharma firm in stent accord.(Business Developments)
March 1, 2005... Ariad Pharmaceuticals (Cambridge, Massachusetts) has entered into non-exclusive agreements with cardiovascular device maker Medinol (Tel Aviv, Israel) to develop and commercialize stents and other medical devices to deliver Ariad's mTOR...

Abbott sets 'landmark' carotid stent trial.(Business Developments)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2005... Abbott Laboratories (Abbott Park, Illinois) said it would begin the first trial of its kind to assess the benefits of using stents in the neck arteries of likely stroke patients who have not shown symptoms of the disease. Stroke is the third...

Northfield raises $77.6 million.(Business Developments)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2005... Despite facing continuing regulatory barriers, oxygen therapeutics developer Northfield Laboratories (Evanston, Illinois) last month raised $77.6 million in an offering of common stock. The primary offering raised about $66.5 million, with the...

Aspect Medical Systems (Newton, Massachusetts) reported that it has amended its product development with Boston Scientific (Natick, Massachusetts) to provide a two-year extension to the period during which Boston Scientific may exercise an option to distribute sedation management technology for interventional and specialty medical procedure suites.(Agreements)
March 1, 2005... Aspect Medical Systems (Newton, Massachusetts) reported that it has amended its product development with Boston Scientific (Natick, Massachusetts) to provide a two-year extension to the period during which Boston Scientific may exercise an...

Cardiac Science.(Agreements)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2005... Cardiac Science (Irvine, California), a manufacturer of automated external defibrillators (AEDs), said it has been selected as the exclusive provider of AEDs and comprehensive AED/CPR training and AED program management services for a citywide...

Stereotaxis (St. Louis) reported entering into an agreement with Lake Region Manufacturing for the development and production of magnetically enabled guidewires for use with the Stereotaxis System, a cardiology instrument control system that is manufactured by Stereotaxis.(Agreements)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2005... Stereotaxis (St. Louis) reported entering into an agreement with Lake Region Manufacturing for the development and production of magnetically enabled guidewires for use with the Stereotaxis System, a cardiology instrument control system that is...

Women don't receive key cardiac procedures.(Market Updates)
March 1, 2005... Women suffering from cardiovascular disease outnumber men, according to the American Heart Association (AHA; Dallas). And therefore it would make sense then that women must undergo more interventional procedures, right? Not true, according to a...

Crawford to remove 'acting' from title.(Market Updates; Lester Crawford )
March 1, 2005... President George Bush said in mid-February that he planned to nominate Lester Crawford to head the FDA. Crawford has served as acting commissioner since March 2004, when Mark McClellan left the agency to lead the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid...

Periodontal ills linked to stroke, heart attack.(Market Updates)
March 1, 2005... Researchers have found evidence that older adults with higher proportions of four periodontal disease-causing bacteria in their mouths tend to have thicker carotid arteries, a strong predictor of stroke and heart attack, with the results...

Angiotech Pharmaceuticals.(Personnel File)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2005... Gary Ingenito, MD, PhD, has been named senior vice president, clinical development and regulatory affairs, for Angiotech Pharmaceuticals (Vancouver). He formerly was senior vice president of contract research organization SFBC International....

Cardiogenesis.(Personnel File)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2005... Lee Langord has been named vice president and general manager of the Central Area for Cardiogenesis (Foothill Ranch, California). Langford previously was a regional manager for Capital Sales. Cardiogenesis is a leader in surgical products used...

Endologix.(Personnel File)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2005... Herbert Mertens has been appointed to the newly created post of vice president of sales and marketing for Endologix (Irvine, California). Mertens will oversee the U.S. launch of Endologix's Powerlink System, an endoluminal graft (ELG) for the...

TUV America.(Personnel File)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2005... TUV America (Danvers, Massachusetts) has expanded its West Coast Product Safety Services Group. Alfred "Sandy" Mikalow, a safety engineer and founder of his own company, was named product safety engineer for Washington, Oregon, Alaska, Idaho...

'Mini' bypass touted as new standard.(Product Pipeline)
March 1, 2005... NovoSci (The Woodlands, Texas) reported last month that the Washington DC VA Medical Center (DCVAMC) is the first VA center and regional Washington cardiac surgery center to be actively using its new miniaturized bypass technology, the Ready...

Abbott Laboratories (Abbott Park, Illinois) said it has entered a licensing agreement with the Cleveland Clinic (Cleveland) for the development of an automated in vitro diagnostic test to detect myeloperoxidase (MPO).(Product Pipeline)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2005... Abbott Laboratories (Abbott Park, Illinois) said it has entered a licensing agreement with the Cleveland Clinic (Cleveland) for the development of an automated in vitro diagnostic test to detect myeloperoxidase (MPO), an enzyme found in white...

Abiomed.(Product Pipeline)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2005... Abiomed (Danvers, Massachusetts) provided a clinical update for the AB5000 Circulatory Support System, launched in April 2004. It said outcomes have continued to improve as the system has gone into wider use. Abiomed's ventricular assist...

Biotronik (Lake Oswego, Oregon), a manufacturer of cardiovascular products, reported the first worldwide implantation of a Philos II DR-T pacemaker and a Lexos DR-T ICD with Home Monitoring Early Detection technology.(Product Pipeline)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2005... Biotronik (Lake Oswego, Oregon), a manufacturer of cardiovascular products, reported the first worldwide implantation of a Philos II DR-T pacemaker and a Lexos DR-T ICD with Home Monitoring Early Detection technology. The advanced Home...

Cholestech (Hayward, California) reported the results of a Mayo Clinic (Rochester, Minnesota) study that suggests that a non-invasive fingertip test for which it is the distributor can identify coronary disease at its earliest stages and may provide a new point-of-care test for physicians to use in their offices.(Product Pipeline)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2005... Cholestech (Hayward, California) reported the results of a Mayo Clinic (Rochester, Minnesota) study that suggests that a non-invasive fingertip test for which it is the distributor can identify coronary disease at its earliest stages and may...

Cook (Bloomington, Indiana) reported the availability of the CODA balloon catheter to the endovascular market.(Product Pipeline)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2005... Cook (Bloomington, Indiana) reported the availability of the CODA balloon catheter to the endovascular market. The new catheter is designed for temporary occlusion of large blood vessels and expanding vascular prostheses. CODA helps to optimize...

Edwards Lifesciences (Irvine, California) reported U.S. launch of its ThermaFix tissue treatment process, which will now be available on the company's Carpentier-Edwards Perimount Magna replacement tissue heart valves.(Product Pipeline)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2005... Edwards Lifesciences (Irvine, California) reported U.S. launch of its ThermaFix tissue treatment process, which will now be available on the company's Carpentier-Edwards Perimount Magna replacement tissue heart valves. The new combination of...

GE Healthcare (Waukesha, Wisconsin) has unveiled new cardiac imaging techniques developed with the world's first high-definition magnetic resonance (HDMR) system.(Product Pipeline)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2005... GE Healthcare (Waukesha, Wisconsin) has unveiled new cardiac imaging techniques developed with the world's first high-definition magnetic resonance (HDMR) system. The applications were launched at the Society for Cardiovascular Magnetic...

MedicalCV (Minneapolis) reported the completion of the first U.S. human clinical case using the AtriLaze surgical ablation system.(Product Pipeline)
March 1, 2005... MedicalCV (Minneapolis) reported the completion of the first U.S. human clinical case using the AtriLaze surgical ablation system. The diode laser system allows the cardiovascular surgeon to deliver laser energy to atrial tissue creating "exact...

Quinton Cardiology Systems (Bothell, Washington) reported that it has added a new electrocardiograph (ECG), the Eclipse Premier, to its product line.(Product Pipeline)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2005... Quinton Cardiology Systems (Bothell, Washington) reported that it has added a new electrocardiograph (ECG), the Eclipse Premier, to its product line. Use of Eclipse Premier can lead to quicker diagnoses, the company said, as health...

Raytel Cardiac Services (Windsor, Connecticut), a provider of remote pacemaker monitoring and cardiac diagnostic testing, said a study published in the January Annals of Internal Medicine found that heart patients on anticoagulation therapy who self-test their blood levels stay "in range" and have fewer complications compared to patients who don't self-test.(Product Pipeline)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2005... Raytel Cardiac Services (Windsor, Connecticut), a provider of remote pacemaker monitoring and cardiac diagnostic testing, said a study published in the January Annals of Internal Medicine found that heart patients on anticoagulation therapy who...

Smith & Wesson (Springfield, Massachusetts), a firearms maker and law enforcement company, reported the introduction of its second-generation automated external defibrillator (AED) at the Shot Show in Las Vegas.(Product Pipeline)
March 1, 2005... Smith & Wesson (Springfield, Massachusetts), a firearms maker and law enforcement company, reported the introduction of its second-generation automated external defibrillator (AED) at the Shot Show in Las Vegas. The Smith & Wesson Heartbeat AED...

St. Jude Medical (St. Paul, Minnesota) reported the European market launch of the QuickSite 1056T bipolar left-heart pacing lead, which it described as "the world's first cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) lead to combine bipolar pacing capability with a composite body for superior handling and an S-shaped distal tip for outstanding stability.".(Product Pipeline)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2005... St. Jude Medical (St. Paul, Minnesota) reported the European market launch of the QuickSite 1056T bipolar left-heart pacing lead, which it described as "the world's first cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) lead to combine bipolar pacing...

Terumo Cardiovascular Systems (Ann Arbor, Michigan) has introduced the VirtuoSaph Endoscopic Vein Harvesting (EVH) System for use in coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG).(Product Pipeline)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2005... Terumo Cardiovascular Systems (Ann Arbor, Michigan) has introduced the VirtuoSaph Endoscopic Vein Harvesting (EVH) System for use in coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG). The minimally invasive device provides an endoscopic approach to...

Thoratec.(Product Pipeline)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2005... Thoratec (Pleasanton, California) issued an update on its investigational device exemption application to the FDA to conduct a Phase II pivotal clinical trial for the HeartMate II, its next-generation left ventricular assist device designed to...

Zoll Medical.(Product Pipeline)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2005... Zoll Medical (Chelmsford, Massachusetts), a maker of resuscitation devices and software solutions, said it has expanded its line of automated external defibrillators (AEDs) with the introduction of the Zoll AED Pro, which recently received...