Health Industry Today articles from April 1997

Health Industry Today archives from April 1997

Spinal implant market grows, but few companies benefit.
April 1, 1997... Though still small by the standards of, its better established orthopedic implant cousins in total knees and hips, the spinal implant market is one that is growing at about a 7% compound rate. The demographics are strong, and the revenue...

ACC '97: beat goes on for booming cardiovascular product segment. (American College of Cardiology)
April 1, 1997... Judging simply from the bustle of activity in the cavernous Anaheim Convention Center at last month's 46th annual scientific session of the American College of Cardiology, this is certainly one segment that is alive and doing extremely well....

Bergen Brunswig signs long-term pharmacy deals with BJC, Beverly. (Bergen Brunswig Corp.; BJC Health Systems; Beverly Enterprises Inc.)
April 1, 1997... Bergen Brunswig Corp., Orange, Calif., has signed a five-year, sole-source pharmaceutical distribution contract with St. Louis-based BJC Health System that is expected to generate approximately $330 million in sales over the life of the...

St. Jude's Ventritex acquisition imperiled by patient deaths. (St. Jude Medical Inc.; Ventritex Inc.)
April 1, 1997... The recent deaths of three heart patients, deaths associated with their implantable cardiac defibrillators, has cast a shadow over last October's announced acquisition of Ventritex Inc., the Sunnyvale, Calif.-based ICD manufacturer by St. Paul,...

Dade-Behring merger creates lab giant. (Dade International; Behring Diagnostics Inc.)
April 1, 1997... The mid-March merger of Dade International and Behring Diagnostics will create the world's largest independent company devoted to serving clinical laboratories. The deal also marks the latest - and largest - consolidation event in the lab...

Schein-Micro Bio-Medics merger could boost its New York market share. (Henry Schein Inc.; Micro Bio-Medics Inc.)
April 1, 1997... The early March merger that will combine Henry Schein Inc., Melville, N.Y. and Micro Bio-Medics Inc., Pelham Manor, N.Y., creates not only the largest distributor of health care products to office-based practitioners in North America at more than...

Sulzer Intermedics builds lower cost Momentum pacer with fewer bells, whistles.
April 1, 1997... Cost-effectiveness through utilization management in a reliable pacing product is driving the marketing effort for the newest pacemaker from Sulzer Intermedics. Angleton, Texas-based Sulzer Intermedics - known simply as Intermedics Inc. until a...

SIMS Deltec shows its P.A.S. PORT II to physicians, nurses, administrators.
April 1, 1997... SIMS Deltec has put together both a clinical and a financial sell for its latest product, the P.A.S. PORT[R] II system, its second generation peripheral access device. The new product from the St. Paul, Minn.-based manufacturer was launched in...

Dornier says new small, lithotripter will give more bang(s) for fewer bucks. (Dornier Medical Systems Inc.)
April 1, 1997... Dornier Medical Systems Inc. has introduced a new, compact lithotripter that carries a price tag low enough to put the device into the hands of small group urology practices and hospitals as well. Kennesaw, Ga.-based Dornier, the lithotripsy...

Savvy marketers can find success in alternate care product sales.
April 1, 1997... Over the last few years, we health care executives have been barraged with a stream of headlines announcing the restructuring of our industry: mega-mergers creating economies of scale and product-line breadth, niche players emerging to exploit...

Orthopedic implant players vary in approach.
April 1, 1997... In this era of consolidation in many segments of medical device manufacturing, some might venture to describe the orthopedic implant segment as fragmented. If that description holds true, the business is fragmented among a few, very large,...

DePuy goes public, gains strength. (DePuy Inc.; stock offering)
April 1, 1997... The company that is the oldest orthopedic implant manufacturer in the U.S. (founded 1895) is also among the largest. The company offers approximately 20,000 products and instruments in total hip and extremity implants, total knee implants,...

Zimmer still potent in flat sales period. (Zimmer Inc.)
April 1, 1997... Despite flat sales over the past year, Zimmer, Bristol-Myers Squibb company, still managed to bring in about $1.2 billion in revenue in its last fiscal year. According to 1996 figures, Bristol-Myers Squibb's medical device product sales remained...

Smith & Nephew takes global viewpoint.
April 1, 1997... British-owned Smith & Nephew is a company that has undergone a major restructuring of late. In February, the company, whose U.S. operation is based in Memphis, formed a new Healthcare Division that includes the combined sales teams for orthopedic...

Sofamor Danek bases success on "special" service, R&D.
April 1, 1997... Jim Gallogly, the Sofamor Danek's president, points to his company's basic philosophy to explain its ability to dominate the market: "With us, the surgeon is king," he says. "We want to surround surgeons with all the products they need for a...

Managed care, regulatory issues, competition top concerns of vendor executives. (medical equipment industry)
April 1, 1997... Pressure from managed care entities, the long, tough path to FDA marketing approval and, of course, industry competition, are the prime issues for vendor executives interviewed on the ACC trade show floor. The USCI Division of Bard, Billerica,...

Target acquisition gives Boston Scientific big lead in neuroradiology market. (Boston Scientific Corp.)
April 1, 1997... In late January, Boston Scientific Corp. announced the acquisition of Target Therapeutics Inc., Fremont,. Calif. for stock valued at about $1.1 billion (see "Boston Sci. pays $1.1 billion for Target," Health Industry Today, March 1997, p. 5)....